Drama in Eilat: 10-year-old boy drowned — ER director who happened to be at the beach saved him
The boy went for an introductory dive with his family, and later entered the water with a mask connected to a snorkel. His parents noticed he was unresponsive and pulled him from the water blue, without a pulse or breathing. The director of the ER at Yoseftal Hospital, who had just finished a dive in the area, heard the calls for help and ran to the scene. He performed massive resuscitation on the child and restored his pulse and breathing. The mother: "It was a miracle from heaven that he was there."
A family outing at Almog Beach in Eilat almost ended in disaster: Ariel (pseudonym), a 10-year-old boy, drowned during a diving activity and was pulled from the water unconscious. The stressful event occurred on Sunday when the family arrived at one of the diving clubs in Eilat for an introductory dive. After finishing the session, the boy entered the water wearing a mask connected to a snorkel. He began swimming near the rocks while his parents watched him from nearby. At first, they thought he was looking at fish, but soon realized something was wrong.
"Suddenly we realized he wasn't responding. We ran, pulled him out, and took off his mask — he was completely blue," recalled Sharon, the boy's mother.
The child was unconscious, without a pulse or breathing. Fortunately, at that very moment, Dr. Daher Agbaria, director of the ER at the Yoseftal Medical Center of the Clalit group, happened to be coming out of a dive on the same beach. Hearing the calls for help, he immediately rushed to the scene.
"We heard shouting and someone calling 'Doctor, doctor!'. I immediately ran towards the noise together with the diving club staff," he said. Dr. Agbaria began performing resuscitation procedures, including chest compressions and artificial respiration using an Ambu bag. "After 2-3 minutes, the pulse returned and the child began to gradually come to," he reported.
By the time MADA and United Hatzalah teams arrived, the child already had a pulse and spontaneous breathing. The boy's mother praised the doctor's quick response: "The doctor took control of the whole event, cleared everyone away, and started resuscitation. He is simply an angel — it was a miracle from heaven that he was there. I owe him my son's life," says Sharon.
The child was evacuated to the Yoseftal Medical Center in moderate and stable condition. Later, when he was alert and communicating, it was decided to transfer him to the Schneider Children's Medical Center for further treatment and observation. No lasting damage is expected.
