Heroes like 25-year-old Moran Harel. Here is his story.

The village of Debel in Lebanon was meant to be a safe rest stop. The IDF paratroopers had already been there. Moran Harel, of the 551st Regiment of the Combat Engineering Corps of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), had been called away from his family business to report for active duty in the third week of the Second Lebanon War.

Under cover of night, they marched toward the village of Rashaf, with an anticipated safe stop in Debel. Once there, they took over the skeleton of a two-story house under construction.

At 11:00 a.m., as Moran was on guard duty, an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah slammed into the house, hit the door post, and continued on, striking several soldiers along the way, including Moran. Three minutes passed. Another missile hit, this time right where Moran lay.

Under fire from mortars and missiles, the Israeli soldiers pulled out of the house and hid behind a terrace. They radioed for a helicopter or tank to evacuate the wounded. After five hours, they couldn’t wait any longer. A crew from the Golani Brigade Special Forces arrived and under constant fire walked the wounded out, with explosive devices all along their route.

With each step, Moran was losing blood and suffering horrific pain. They made it to the Israeli border where a chopper airlifted him to hospital.

Moran was unconscious for 40 hours. When he awoke, he learned he had lost his left eye, had received 3 pints of blood, and had shrapnel removed from his head as well as from his arm and leg, which were badly wounded.

The first words this brave 25-year-old uttered when he awoke were, “Despite all the damage, I am grateful that I am alive.”

Where is Moran today?

He has been given a new chance at life. Moran was recently in Montreal as part of our group visit program. He attends the Tel Aviv Beit Halochem rehabilitation facility where he alternates daily between physiotherapy, therapeutic swimming and using the specialized equipment in the fitness room. Moran is eligible to receive an academic scholarship from Beit Halochem.

Beit Halochem Israel needs people just like you who recognize the extraordinary courage of Israel’s soldiers and victims of terror: people who understand that Israel is only as strong as those who defend her for all of us.

When you support Beit Halochem, you are ensuring that Israel’s finest, her courageous heroes like Moran, as well as victims of terror attacks, are able to receive the rehabilitation they desperately need to regain their lives.

Therapeutic devices, specialized equipment, physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, research, sport coaching and cultural activities – are just some of the services provided by Beit Halochem to the injured and their families.

Beit Halochem also nurtures friendships with others who have had to learn to live with disabilities. The difference this makes in the recuperation of soldiers and terror victims is priceless.

There is no place else in Israel quite like the Beit Halochem centres.