On Wednesday, four years to the day after receiving an alert about a woman in labor, United Hatzalah volunteer EMTs Avi Amar, Gavriel Mumko, and Yaakov Mazoz, returned to the scene of the medical emergency, on Ahi Eilat Street in Ashdod, for a very special occasion. The three EMTs comprised the medical team on one of the organization’s ambulances that received the alert and helped the woman deliver a set of twins.
The volunteers met with the four-year-old twins Yinon Sagi and Moriah Malka, in order to celebrate their birthday together with them. The volunteers were reunited with Moran, the mother of the twins.
Four years prior, while Avi, Gavriel, and Yaakov were on a regular ambulance shift, they were alerted to a woman in labor, Moran, who was about to give birth on a park bench when they arrived. The volunteers quickly got her on a stretcher and brought her inside the ambulance, where the drama began in earnest.
Avi Amar recalled; “We saw that the birth was imminent. There was not even enough time to travel to the hospital. We opened our birthing kit and prepared to receive the baby.”
Gavriel added: “The first baby, the son, quickly emerged and I received him, wrapped him, and cleaned him. These moments are very stressful but very rewarding. We all took a sigh of relief as the boy was born healthy and without any difficulties. Moran then surprised us by telling us that she was having twins and we should prepare for a second birth. We opened a second birthing kit, and just a few moments later, a daughter was born. The daughter required assisted ventilation and a paramedic that arrived assisted us. We drove to rendezvous with a mobile intensive care ambulance and transferred the mother and the babies to their care to be taken to the hospital.”
Four years later, Moran saw Avi Amar during an online video interview answering questions about United Hatzalah’s activities in the city. Moran wrote in the comments on the website, that she was the woman whom Avi helped deliver four years prior, and the two connected via Facebook.
Yesterday, Avi and the other volunteers met up with Moran and her children, and Avi brought the same ambulance so that the children could celebrate their birthday in the very place of their birth. The volunteers bequeathed the twins with presents to mark the occasion.
Moran summed up the emotional reunion and said: “Four years later, we are finally closing the circle. Thanks to the work of these volunteers and their equipment, my children are healthy and happy, and it is because of the help that I received that night. Had you not been there, I’m not sure what would have happened. These volunteers arrived within seconds, long before anyone else was able to arrive, they got there even before our neighbors came downstairs to see what all the commotion was about. They provided expert care, with dedication and calm. They brought me onto this ambulance and I was delivered moments later. They are not midwives or birthing coaches, but the birth was still excellent and it was easy to see that they knew what they were doing. They calmed me down and treated me with professionalism. They are simply angels with golden hearts. I am so happy that I was able to thank you all today, even though it is four years later.”
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