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A soldier wounded during the Lebanon war listening to a Hassidic man playing the accordion.
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| By Ynetnews March 1, 2007 |
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A military commander injured during the Kerem Shalom attack, in which Gilad Shalit was abducted, appealed to the Defense Ministry Wednesday, requesting disability living allowance.
Sergeant Z claimed that his life was severely affected by the attack.
"My life is in a constant state of uncertainty...my fiancee called off our engagement, and I don't even watch television because I'm afraid Gilad Shalit will be mentioned," the soldier wrote in an affidavit presented by his attorney, Eli Saban.
The affidavit was sent to the Defense Ministry's rehabilitation department, and described how his life changed completely as a result of his experiences on the day of the attack. Saban said he was requesting disability living allowance, and in future, he would request recognition as a handicapped soldier.
The events of June 25, 2006 have remained etched in sergeant Zs mind, a Muslim who volunteered for the IDF. Sergeant Z was supposed to participate in an officer's course after becoming part of the standing army in the desert patrol unit.
"Towards the end of the patrol shift in the Kerem Shalom area, I heard mortar shells falling," the sergeant described the incident in which he served as commander, and how he identified the smoking tank that Shalit was in.
"We saw two soldiers' bodies lying by the tank...I was ordered to retrieve them...the operation was under heavy fire, missiles were being fired and grenades were being thrown. The battle lasted 45 minutes, and it was a miracle that we made it out alive, while managing to hit three terrorists. We retrieved the soldiers' bodies and an injured soldier, and we discovered that one soldier was missing," he said.
'Battle events come to me in nightmares'
Following the attack, sergeant Z was moderately injured, and transferred to the Soroka University Medical Center in Be'er Sheva for treatment. The sergeant underwent surgery, in which shrapnel were removed from his eyes, forehead, and hands.
He was admitted to the Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer for one month. According to him, this was when his experiences started coming back to him in his dreams.
"I began having terrible nightmares. The events of the battle came back to me. I was sent for a psychiatric consultation, and I was recommended to seek further treatment," sergeant Z wrote.
It became clear that his military service had come to an end, and aside from his medical problems, including a loss of hearing, sergeant Z had become a different person. Following psychiatric evaluation, sergeant Z was diagnosed as having developed post-traumatic symptoms.
A stark contrast to his formerly calm, social personality, he claimed that he could no longer stand people being around him, that he was constantly yelling, and had a tendency towards violent outbursts.
A medical committee will soon discuss sergeant Z's situation. "We wish to request medical treatment compensation, since after his release from the army he will not be able to sustain himself," Saban wrote in his appeal to the Defense Ministry.
Reprinted with permission from Ynetnews. |
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