A 7-year-old Israeli girl from the southern city of Arad who was critically wounded in an Iranian missile attack last month has been discharged from hospital, Schneider Children’s Medical Center said on Thursday.
“We went through moments that cannot be described in words,” the victim’s father said in a statement shared by the hospital. “We saw our daughter fighting for her life, and the team at Schneider never gave up on her, not even for a moment. Thanks to them, she is with us today. We have no words to thank everyone involved for their professionalism, dedication and compassion.”
Following the March 21 missile strike, the girl was evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva with severe bleeding and multi-system injuries caused by the blast impact and glass shrapnel.
Scans later showed that fragments had punctured her abdomen, causing severe liver damage, including a torn blood vessel and injury to the bile duct, requiring emergency surgery.
After being stabilized at the Beersheva hospital, the victim was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit at Schneider Children’s Medical Center, where she underwent several additional surgeries and a prolonged hospitalization. She was discharged earlier this week in good condition and will continue her recovery at home, the hospital stated.
Dr. Michael Gurevich, head of Schneider’s pediatric liver transplant department and one of the surgeons who treated the girl, described the case as a “complex, multi-system injury with immediate life-threatening risk.”
“An intensive team effort involving multiple surgical disciplines was required to stabilize her condition and repair the damage to the liver and biliary system,” he explained. “Fortunately, thanks to rapid intervention and continued care, we were able to save her life.”
Iranian ballistic missiles struck the southern Israeli cities of Dimona and Arad on March 21, wounding 115, including 12 with serious injuries.
The Magen David Adom medical emergency response group said it evacuated a total of 31 people to Soroka after a missile scored a direct hit in Dimona around 7 p.m. One person sustained serious wounds, one was moderately injured and 29 others were listed as being in mild condition.
Around three hours later, 84 people were wounded by a direct impact in Arad, some 15 miles west of Dimona. Among those evacuated to the hospital were 11 in serious condition, 20 in moderate condition and 84 in mild condition.
