Ari Bina, an 18-year-old student, who is combining his Jewish studies with service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), was on his way home from school in Gush Etzion when a black Subaru crossed the highway and intentionally came hurtling towards him. With serious head injuries and leg fractures, Ari was rushed by ambulance to Hadassah Hospital-Ein Kerem. Later, a man from Hebron was arrested who admitted that his goal was to use his vehicle to harm people waiting at that bus stop.
Just the night before, on May 13, Ari's grandparents, Rabbi Aharon and Rabbanit Malke Bina, both renowned Jewish educators, attended a meeting of the Hadassah International Israel Board of Trustees. Malke is a new trustee. The speaker for the evening was the Hadassah Medical Organization's Prof. Yoram Weiss, Director of Hadassah-Ein Kerem, who described two projects that the trustees could raise funds for—the new Intensive Care Units and a PET scanner.
Prof. Weiss offered all of the attendees his card and made sure they knew he was always available for them.
The very next day, Prof. Weiss received a text message that a badly injured patient was on his way to the trauma unit in the Judy and Sidney Swartz Center for Emergency Medicine. Then he received a phone call from Rabbi Aharon and Malka Bina, whom he had just met the evening before: the young man was their grandson, Ari.
Prof. Weiss, an expert in intensive care, promised an immediate report and went to join the team that was treating Ari. A CT scan revealed that Ari's head had been hit hard, and there were several epidural hemorrhages. Ari underwent brain surgery, and then was treated by the orthopedic team for leg fractures.
When a Terrorist Attacks
Teenager Ari Bina was seriously injured when a terrorist rammed him with a car. Luckily, Ari was rushed to HMO.
"What a fighting spirit!" said one of the nurses in the intensive care unit where Ari was transferred after surgery. "He nearly forced himself awake and was ready to pull out his tubes."
Ari's first concern upon waking was that he would still be able to serve in the IDF top intelligence unit where he'd been accepted. Called Talpiot (Hebrew for small mountain peaks), it's an IDF program that chooses 30 to 100 genius-IQ recruits and puts them to work to tackle tough problems.
He wanted to make sure he was still smart enough to qualify.
"I predict that Ari's going to be just fine," says Prof. Weiss. "He's a remarkable young man and our entire team at the Hospital and supporters around the world are behind him."