50-year-old Ashkelon resident Zlata Markov was strolling on the beach with her son when she suddenly felt unwell, suffered cardiac arrest, and collapsed onto the scorching sand.
Volunteer MAGEN DAVID ADOM senior EMT Yaron Kafach, who serves as the head of Ashkelon’s beach clinics, immediately drove over in a specialized ATV. The ATV is stationed on the beach through a partnership with the Ashkelon municipality. Working alongside the lifeguards, Kafach initiated advanced CPR procedures, attached a defibrillator to Markov, and delivered one crucial shock.
Paramedic Eitan Lasri, director of MAGEN DAVID ADOM’s station in Ashkelon, rushed to the beach in a MICU to join in the lifesaving efforts. Together, he, Kafach, and the beach personnel fought to restore Markov’s heartbeat. Once they succeeded, they transported Markov to the hospital in the MICU in serious condition.
Kafach reflected, “As soon as I heard the lifeguard call for a medic, I jumped in the MDA ATV to help. I didn’t think twice.”
“When I was performing CPR on Markov,” Kafach continued, “I remember seeing her son standing beside her throughout the whole ordeal. I understood we were fighting not just for her life, but for his wellbeing too.”
After recovering in the hospital, Markov returned home. She invited the team who saved her life on the beach over for a visit so she could express her gratitude.
“Thank you so much,” Markov said to the medics. “You are angels who appeared at exactly the right time and place. I’m here today because of you.”
“Throughout my many years as a paramedic, I’ve encountered a lot of emergency situations,” said Lasri at the joyful reunion. “Witnessing someone who was clinically dead now sitting before me, speaking, and smiling, fills me with profound happiness.”