Stories From the Streets: The Family That Saves Together

On a recent Friday afternoon in the northern Israeli town of Migdal HaEmek, a man in his 60s was going about his day when he suddenly suffered a cardiac emergency and collapsed in his home. Worried family members called emergency services for help. 

Maor Ben Gigi, a new addition to United Hatzalah’s network of lifesaving volunteers, had just responded to a different medical emergency when he received the alert of the unconscious man.

“I was working with a close friend of mine, another United Hatzalah volunteer EMT, Yosef Zaguri, and we had just finished treating a person who had fainted on a nearby street when we received the alert,” Ben Gigi explained. “We quickly rushed over to the new address in my car and found the collapsed man in his home with family members trying to sit him up in a chair. We assessed his vital signs, and, finding none, we initiated CPR.”

A minute after the duo started compressions, they were joined by United Hatzalah’s Gilboa Region chapter head: Maor Ben Gigi’s father, Yossi Ben Gigi. Maor and Zaguri delivered chest compressions and assisted ventilation as Yossi attached a defibrillator.

“We worked together flawlessly,” said Maor Ben Gigi. “I’ve known Yosef for many years and even married his wife’s cousin. We know each other well, as does my dad.”

A few minutes later an ambulance arrived, and its team joined the trio of volunteer EMTs in their resuscitative efforts.

“It took a lot of effort, but we finally managed to bring the man’s pulse and breathing back before he was sent to the hospital,” said Maor. “It wasn’t my first successful CPR, but it was the first one I did with my dad, and that meant something special to me.” 

Yossi said he was proud to be able to save a life with his son.

“It was an amazing feeling for me as a father not only to have seen my son become an EMT with United Hatzalah but also to partner with him in saving a life on his very first day after receiving his medical equipment and becoming an official volunteer EMT with the organization,” Yossi said. “This is not a moment I will soon forget. I hope we work together to help many others in the future.”

“The man was taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition,” Maor concluded. “I don’t know what will be, but I can say that today, with my new equipment and an unbeatable team, we did our best to save his life.”

Raphael Poch is the international media spokesperson for United Hatzalah.