Sergeant Or Bar-On, 20, was afraid of dying when a missile hit his tank on July 20, 2006, during the battle at Maroun al-Ras in Lebanon.

Or describes that fateful morning when an explosion rocked his tank: “I felt a kind of searing pain that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. It was like being in hell … I saw that my legs had been hurt, the lower part seemed to be gone. I tried to crawl out of my tank using only my hands. I got as far as the turret when another missile exploded. I felt as if I had been wounded for a second time. I couldn’t hold onto the tank and so I fell. After 31⁄2 hours, I was evacuated and taken to the hospital.”

In the intensive care unit, the doctors said that Or had lost an enormous amount of blood. He was hanging between life and death. A combat fighter, Or miraculously survived but unfortunately lost both his legs.

People from Beit Halochem Israel visited Or in the hospital regularly. He was provided with a laptop and MP4 player, taken out for social excursions and visits to our Centres, where he was shown that there is hope for him and others like him. Or was given the moral support and information needed to deal with his new disability.

“Now I start my life anew because it has been given to me as a gift. I won’t take anything for granted,” Or said.

Or and hundreds of other disabled veterans from Israel’s latest war will be relying on the services of Beit Halochem for the rest of their lives.