"I don't know whom to thank first among the angels at Hadassah," said Inbar Azrak, 27, at Hadassah's Ein Kerem hospital campus. She and her husband were driving in their car near Beit Hanina, a Jerusalem suburb, when a Molotov cocktail was thrown at their car. "I heard a boom and saw the car was on fire. I tried to get out, but had trouble undoing my seatbelt. Finally, I rolled in the dirt. I realized I was badly hurt, but I said to myself, 'I'm alive—the pain will pass and you're still alive." Fortunately the Azrak's three small children weren't in the car. "A couple stopped and helped us, offered us water, held me, and waited for the ambulance. From the moment we arrived at Hadassah Ein Kerem, we had the most compassionate and most professional care," said Azrak, a high school teacher.
She is suffering from "moderate burns" and is hospitalized on the seventh floor of the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower in the department of plastic surgery.
"What a gift to have this beautiful and comfortable room where my family and guests can feel comfortable." Among her guests were Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel President Reuven Rivlin, both of whom condemned the hate crimes of recent days. Today she was visited by Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Dov Kalmanovitz, himself a terror survivor who suffered third degree burns over 75 percent of his body in 1988 after a Molotov cocktail attack. He spent many months in Hadassah Ein Kerem, where he recovered and resumed his life as a parent and head of an accounting firm. "I came to encourage Inbar that the long journey is worth it."
Coincidently, both patients have the same plastic surgeon: Professor Rami Neuman. "You need luck even when you're in a terror attack," said Professor Neuman. "Although Inbar's car went up in flames and she was on fire and has 25 percent burns, most are second degree. My conservative diagnosis is that she will go home in two weeks and be fine. Unfortunately, we have a lot of experience in dealing with burns from terror explosives. She's a lovely young woman with a beautiful family and we're glad to contribute to her recovery."
Azrak asked to thank the members of Hadassah for building such a wonderful facility and supporting Israeli medical progress.