Israel Today

Ramadan Rescue of Muslim Man in Jewish Town

Palestinian worker had been fasting for Muslim holy month, making resuscitation much more difficult

Israel Today Staff

Apr 22, 2021 at 8:15 am

| Topics: Coexistence

A Muslim construction worker in his 40s was working in the Jewish town of Neriya in western Binyamin (the so-called “West Bank”) when he was accidentally electrocuted, causing a power outage throughout the town.

Eye-witnesses who saw the incident called emergency services for help.

Several volunteers with the emergency rescue service United Hatzalah quickly answered the call.

Yedidya Landesberg, who was one of the three responders to arrive at the scene, said, “Suddenly I noticed that the electricity went out throughout the whole town and I wondered what caused it. I live in an area of the town where there is no cell reception and my connection to the outside world is via the internet. When the power went down, so did the internet, but I was able to receive a text message from a friend on the security team that there is an emergency in the town and I headed out to assist.”

“When I arrived together with Uri (Ofri) and David (Musenjad) we rushed to the worker who had collapsed on the ground,” Landesberg continued. “The man was in his 40s and had suffered severe electrocution. We checked to see if he was breathing and if he had a pulse and we found none. The shock was so powerful that it stopped his heart. Without wasting a moment we launched into CPR.”

Landesberg added: “David attached a defibrillator while Uri and I began compressions and assisted ventilation. We performed CPR for 15 minutes and after receiving numerous shocks from the defibrillator, the man’s pulse returned.”

Uri Ofri was working from home when he saw the power go out and moments later he saw the alert and rushed out of his house and headed to the scene of the emergency where he joined Yedidya and David. He added: “Today is the first day of Ramadan and this man was fasting in celebration of the new month. The fact that he was fasting made the CPR that much harder, and he needed to receive fluids as well as medication. I am happy that we were able to save his life and I hope that he makes a full recovery so that he can go home and celebrate the rest of the holiday with his family. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to help him and that he survived.”