Soroka Magazine

Sergeant First Class Omri Michaeli became one of the icons of the war after being evacuated to Soroka Medical Center by helicopter covered in an Israeli flag. He was treated in the Plastic Surgery Department due to a bullet wound in his leg. (Photo: Israel Yosef)

Ohad Ben Ishai, a combat soldier in the Egoz Unit, parting from nurse Adi Harari with a kiss as he leaves for rehabilitation. Ohad was evacuated to Soroka with grave head injuries and underwent two complex head surgeries. For many days he was in an induced coma until his condition began to improve.

The brit mila (circumcision) ceremony for the newborn son of combat soldier Yehuda Hayisraeli, who was hospitalized with a severe head injury, took place adjacent to the ICU so Yehuda could be present.

An unending human drama No Hollywood script could compete with the complex reality that faced the hospital staff, a reality composed of endless human dramas and many touching moments, each one a story unto itself—injured soldiers who open their eyes, only to inquire after their comrades still at the battlefront, civilians suffering from shock and injured by rocket shrapnel, staff who worked around the clock, hopeful and worried families, scores of visitors and volunteers—the best of the people of Israel.

A very emotional encounter took place between Mrs. Maria Rachmilov from Beer-Sheva and Mr. Shimon Yunteib who rescued her from the ruins when a direct hit destroyed her home. On the right, Prof. Leonid Landsberg, Chief of the Surgery Division

Prof. Alexander Zlotnik, Dr. Gilbert Sebbag, and Adina Alir in the ICU

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