S, 21, who serves in the artillery corps, was walking on Tzi Street on the way to meet up with his unit near Jerusalem's Central Bus Station, when a terrorist ran behind him and plunged his knife into S's right shoulder. At first, S even thought it might be a fellow soldier clapping him on the back, but then he saw the terrorist's bloody knife. The terrorist turned to attack S further, and they wrestled. A nearby security guard helped subdue the terrorist.
"You are very lucky," said Dr. Miklosh Bana, who heads the trauma unit in the Swartz Center for Emergency Medicine. "The terrorist had missed a vital artery. Terrorists are tutored by instructive videos on how to cause maximum damage while attacking, and a number of patients have sustained fatal injuries." S, born in Ogden, Utah, grew up in Adam, a village near Jerusalem.
In the hospital he was visited by his parents, who brought their family on Aliyah nearly 20 years ago. S's Dad was a career officer in the US Air Force. "I didn't panic," said S's Mom. "My husband would head off every day to work with explosives, and I was always glad to see him home safely. I'm thankful for my son only suffering light wounds, and for the excellent care at Hadassah Hospital."