“The feeling of satisfaction as an athlete is a tremendous feeling, but as a victim of terror, on the national level, it’s a huge victory.”
Profiles
Itay Erenlib
“I have a room full of prosthetic legs: for climbing, running, swimming… I always want to get as far as I can, and as far as possible.”
Fernando Gotthilf
“As my life was hanging in the balance, with devastating wounds, I vividly remember every detail of my team risking their own lives in order to rescue me,” recalls Fernando. “The next painstaking 10 months are more of a blur, as I struggled physically with the extensive damage [to my body], and emotionally with my new situation.”
Ilan Egozi
The Ultimate Warrior By Avi Zur, July 2013 | Photographs by Ariel Bsor I must confess that for 12 years I have been trying to get Col. (res.) Ilan Egozi to grant me an interview for “Halochem” magazine for twelve years he has politely declined: “Forget about it”, he says,
Maytal Wax
“Being a disabled mother is physically difficult, but I recommend parenthood to everyone. There are frightening moments, like knowing that I cannot run after them, or when both cling to my wheelchair and I cannot move. My dream is to be able to go to the beach with them, build castles in the sand, take them into the water, and walk hand in hand with them when they are old enough to do so”
Mike and Eran Guy
Mike Guy, whose right leg is amputated up to half of his pelvis, is a competitive wheelchair tennis player, an artist, takes part in off–the-beaten-path jeep tours, studies Arabic at Beit Halochem, conducts voluntary activities for the benefit of soldiers in a military prison, acts as a representative of The Zahal Disabled Veterans Fund as well as other activities. Mike, who is going on 81, is a retired employee of the Defense Establishment where he worked for 35 years. He, together with his family, devotes much time to his second son Eran who suffered a severe head injury in car accident whilst serving with the elite Egoz commando unit of the Golani Brigade. But Mike looks at things positively and says, “my injury opened up a new and vibrant chapter in my life.”
Sivan Ron
Sivan Ron grew up in Kibbutz Lotem together with his three brothers in the north of Israel. He did a year of voluntary community service with “Youth at Risk” before joining the army. At the end of the volunteer service year, Sivan enlisted in the elite “Maglan” unit. During Operation Protective Edge (2014), Sivan’s team encountered fierce battles against terrorists. In one of those battles, Ron was seriously injured by shrapnel from an explosive charge detonated near the building where his team was.
Rafael Kellen
When Rafael Kellen talks about his childhood, one understands that it was not an easy time. He was born 25 years ago in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa to an ultraorthodox Jewish family. When he was one, his family made Aliya to Israel and settled in Kiryat Ye’arim (also called Telz-Stone), an ultraorthodox settlement in the Jerusalem Corridor populated by religious-ultraorthodox Jews. He never felt connected to the ultraorthodox education system, with its Talmud Torah schools and yeshiva high schools that he was sent to as a youth.
Roei Ben Tolila
His injury turned him from an officer in an elite unit into a disabled guy. Competitive basketball changed his world and proved to him that even in a wheelchair you can remain a warrior, and win, too.
Dan Layani
During the First Lebanon War, 20-year-old Dan Layani and his regiment, the 12th Golani Brigade, were positioned above two refugee camps on the outskirts of Beirut and were experiencing heavy fire from a Syrian force.