Details Emerge of United Hatzalah Volunteer Holding Rescued Baby

JERUSALEM  – Amidst the images of unbearable barbarism and carnage emanating from Southern Israel this weekend, a photograph depicting another dimension of the terror attack has emerged, this one showing a United Hatzalah volunteer cradling a baby rescued by soldiers, his parents nowhere to be found.

In a VIN News interview, Shalom Avitan shared how he jumped into his car on Simchas Torah morning before 7 AM, heading straight to the areas under attack.

After meeting up with other volunteers in the south and boarding a United Hatzalah ambulance, Avitan’s first stop was in Sderot, where he and his fellow EMTs began treating patients to the best of their ability.

“It was terrible,” Avitan told VIN News. “There were people lying dead on the floor. There people injured in their own homes.”

Among the devastation that Avitan witnessed were people with no hands, who ran up to the United Hatzalah members begging for help. Other terror victims in Sderot had been shot in their stomachs, hands or legs, and the United Hatzalah members did their best to treat them and send them to area hospitals.

By 7 PM Avitan was one of several United Hatzalah members who were stationed outside of Kfar Aza waiting to treat any injured victims that could be rescued by the Israel Defense Forces, even as the terrorists continued their deadly rampage inside the kibbutz, located approximately three miles east of Gaza. According to Avitan, a three year veteran of United Hatzalah, he and his fellow volunteers were the only medical personnel on scene.

Among the many evacuated from the kibbutz were two babies, rescued by an injured soldier.

Avitan said that it wasn’t clear if the parents were murdered or had been taken hostage, and just how long the babies had been left on their own.

“I took the baby, a little boy, and he latched on to me,” said Avitan. “We saw that he was dehydrated, so we gave him water to drink and he started to calm down.”

Both of the children were evaluated in a United Hatzalah ambulance and were found to be uninjured. Avitan estimated that he held the baby boy for half an hour until he was taken to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva, along with the other baby.

“They didn’t let go of us the whole time,” said Avitan. “They hadn’t been safe for so long, that they felt safe once they were found. And after dealing with people losing hands and legs, to get a baby hugging you felt very good.”

Even as Avitan cared for the rescued baby, soldiers continued bringing hostages out of Kfar Aza.

“The terrorists were still inside, going into houses,” said Avitan. “They were shooting at the soldiers and a lot of injured soldiers came out. I have been an EMT for three years and I have seen a lot but I have never seen anything like this in my life.”

Numerous people have called about the rescued babies, some hoping to find a lost relative, and others offering to adopt one of the babies if no family members can be located.

Speaking with VIN News some 40 hours after he stood outside Kfar Aza holding the rescued baby, Avitan admitted that he still hasn’t slept since the attack took place on the morning of Simchas Torah. Unwilling to return home while there is still so much to be done in Southern Israel, Avitan was heading to army bases with thousands of meals, clothing and toiletries to distribute to the soldiers who are busy with the war effort.

“They have nothing, so we are coming with ambulances stuffed with everything and giving out to everyone,” said Avitan. “I have never seen people so happy to see a bottle of water in my entire life.”

Avitan has yet to process the unimaginable sights that he has borne witness to since he first got into his car early on Simchas Torah morning and started driving.

“I still can’t believe what I am seeing,” said Avitan. “It will take a long time to process what happened here.”