“It was Shabbat, and I was on my way to play basketball on the local court, which I do regularly, and I felt a little twinge,” Michael told the JC. “It had never happened before, so I ignored it, and stepping onto the court was the last thing I remember.”
The heart attack was so major that it took Magen David Adom motorbike paramedic Israel Weingarten some 25 minutes of resuscitation to bring Michael back. “Thank God Israel and MDA showed up and worked for as long as they did. If they had worked on me for 15 minutes, I’d be dead, and nobody would have [condemned] MDA because they would still have worked hard. But, instead, they kept up hope and continued, and I’m literally here today because of them.”
That was 2014, and it was two years later, while on a treadmill, when Michael suffered a second heart attack. Within minutes, Israel, who Michael refers to as his “two-wheeled angel”, again showed up in his time of need to perform CPR and save his life.
“Thanks to God, the Jewish Chronicle and its readers for raising funds for people like me. Four months ago, I welcomed my first grandchild to the world. I’m eternally grateful to MDA and those people behind it who supply the means to enable them to save lives.
“What else can I say about an organisation and people who literally saved my life? If people give money to MDA, it’s not that they might save lives, it’s that they definitely, literally are.
“Thanks to God, but there’s no question in my mind that Israel and his staff were His messengers.”
Israel and Michael continue to keep in close contact today.
[Missing Credit]Michael Kosofsky (left) with MDA motorcycle paramedic Israel Weingarten
Israel’s Story
Israel, 36, first joined MDA in 2003, aged 18, and even while completing his IDF service, would go to volunteer with MDA on weekend leave. He has over the course of more than two decades come to the aid of thousands of people, often during some of the most traumatic incidents of their life.
He was among the first batch of paramedics in the country to ride an MDA motorbike back when the programme was first introduced in 2008. He carries on his bike “almost all” the equipment that can be found in an ambulance, allowing him to provide patients with broad treatment, but often arriving in less than half the time of an ambulance.
“I can do almost all the treatment an ambulance can,” Israel says. “But while it might take them on average eight to ten minutes to arrive with traffic, it takes me four. And when administering treatment, from stemming bleeding to opening airway access, every second is crucial and every minute a game changer.
“It's why I choose to ride a motorcycle every day, to make sure I’m going to save the most amount of lives I can.”
Israel’s life-saving actions atop an MDA motorbike was most recently put to the test on Sunday when he was the first medical professional to arrive at a stabbing attack against a police officer at the Nablus Gate in Jerusalem. “It took me three minutes to reach the scene. MDA motorbikes are rewriting the rules of saving lives,” he said.
To donate to the JC’s fundraiser, visit: justgiving.com/campaign/jcmotorbike
