Amit Bar’el never in a million years believed it could happen to him. Neither did his wife, Efrat. On summer morning during the Second Lebanon War, something moved Efrat to log on to the internet. She hadn’t heard from Amit since he’d been called up for emergency reserve duty a few weeks before.
When she saw the headline that the Alexandroni Brigade had two wounded, one critically, she knew in her heart it had to be Amit…and it was.
Amit had climbed up to the roof of a house in Ras el Biyada in Lebanon. As he opened the door to the roof, there was a loud boom.
An anti-tank missile that had fired from a distance of 250 meters away, exploded in front of him. Amit flew backwards down the stairs and everything after that remains a blur. Amit’s fellow reservists injected him full of painkillers and carried him on a stretcher, constantly resuscitating him while running uphill towards a waiting helicopter.
Amit took the full force of the blast in his head and both of his eyes were crushed. When Efrat reached the hospital in Haifa, she learned that Amit was in critical condition and undergoing surgery.
Tragically, Amit lost his eyesight but he is alive. He and his family are so deeply grateful for that. Ask him what he misses most about losing his sight and he’ll tell you that it’s seeing his young daughters. He can still hear them and hug them but he’ll never “see” them grow from children into young women and that, for Amit, is heartbreaking.
Amit sees life as the glass half full and always tries to find the positive in every situation. One of the most important aspects of his life is Beit Halochem in Tel Aviv. Amit regularly attends a variety of therapy and sport activities that help him strengthen his body and navigate in his new world. He is able to spend time with others who have also been wounded and they give each other encouragement and support.
At Beit Halochem, Efrat talks openly about her fears and concerns for the future with other spouses and takes art and computer lessons. Beit Halochem’s water park is the favorite place for Amit and Efrat’s two daughters who have made good friends with other children of injured soldiers.
When you ask Amit what has made his recovery possible, he will tell you first and foremost the love and support of his family and then the care and support he receives at Beit Halochem.
