It turned out that he was a volunteer trained paramedic. At the same time, he was treating her, he was speaking on his special device: "Send an ambulance. Head injury and loss of breath."
He was our angel. He acted so coolly, so quickly and professionally. Hagit, who was just lying there and seemed lifeless, started moving and coughing. This unassuming humble man had brought her back to life!
Everyone cried, women and men. Our Hatzolah angel kept treating Hagit till the ambulance came and quickly removed Hagit from the scene.
Tomer approached the man, weeping. "Please forgive me, I'm so sorry."
The medic calmly replied, "There's no time for that;, Just go with her, it will all be ok."
We all approached him--hugging him, kissing him, asking for his forgiveness. We were all very excited: we understood that what happened to us was a once in a lifetime event. I have no words to describe it.
We asked for his name and number and said that we would keep in touch. Then we all accompanied him-Ephraim ["Effi"] Gadassi--to visit Hagit, and thank G-d, she was already out of danger.
Tomer felt broken and miserable; he was so ashamed of the way he treated the guy who saved his daughter's life. He called him, cried and begged for forgiveness. He also asked to compensate him with money, but Effi calmed him down, saying, "It's ok, I forgive you. In Eichud Hatzalah that is what we do, almost on a daily basis, and that is our 'Payment.' I will not take money from you!"
Tomer tried persuading him until he finally said: "if you want, you can donate to Eichud Hatzalah. I will not accept money from you."
After three days in the hospital, Hagit was released, but Tomer couldn't stop thinking about it. He was a mess. After a while, he informed us that he intends to do a Seudat Hodaya ["Gratitude Meal"] and invite the Hatzalah man as a guest of honor. He set the date for a Motzaei Shabbat and asked Effi to come. He promised him the evening would be a fundraising event for Eichud Hatzalah. He agreed.
This is supposedly where the story ends...but it's not. None of us could possibly have imagined how this story was really about to end. I warmly advise you to sit before you go on reading!
On Thursday, two days before the Seudat Hodaya, in the middle of the night, Effi Gadassi was on call and responded to an emergency medical event. On his way there, Effi was hit by a car and died.
When we heard that news, our life changed completely and never went back to how it was before. We all attended the funeral, crying like babies as we stood there. We had to hold Tomer who almost fainted.
I cannot begin to describe his grief and the deep feeling of guilt he was dealing with. We tried to comfort him saying he had asked for forgiveness and that Effi forgave him, but he still felt as if a part of his heart had died.
We all changed-- all of us came closer to G-d. Tomer made the biggest change: he now wears a big yarmulke, prays all the daily prayers, and keeps Shabbat. Further, everything he does is for the merit of Effi and for his aliyat neshama (soul elevation), including collecting money to purchase an Eichud Hatzalah motorcycle and donating it to the organization.
This is the story of Effi Gadassi of blessed memory who represents the hundreds of people volunteering in Eichud Hatzalah, who do their holy work every day while expecting nothing in return. Sometimes, as our story shows, this includes getting humiliated, hurt and disrespected on their holy mission.
May this story and the message it carries be for the Aliyat Neshama of the selfless dedicated volunteer, Efraim "Effi" Gadassi!
Source: Compiled and freely adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from a report on Arutz Sheva on May 19, 2017 at the time of his death, and from a follow-up first-person article about an incident a few weeks before that by an author and in a publication unfortunately not known to me.
Postscript: Efraim Gadassi, a volunteer paramedic in the United Hatzalah Ambucycle Unit, was critically injured in a car accident around 3:30AM on Menashe Ben Yisrael Street in Jerusalem as he made his way to the scene of a medical emergency. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Footnote [1] A non-profit volunteer emergency Jewish medical service founded in Israel that serves anyone in need of care, entirely for free, which now has branches all over the world.
