Stories From the Streets: A Community Rallies

On a recent Saturday night, United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Avi Bismouth responded to a medical emergency involving a dehydrated person at the address of a man he’d helped once before. Recognizing the address, Bismouth knew the man was in dire need of assistance and rushed to his aid. Arriving in just under three minutes, he found the man’s apartment in a disastrous state unfit for human habitation, and the man unable to move from bed—he could not even go to the bathroom or to get himself anything to eat. “The smell of the apartment cannot be described in words, but it was so bad it was almost tangible,” Bismouth says.

“The house was dark, filled with garbage and feces on the floor, and rats were everywhere. There was mold on all the walls and the ceiling, on almost every surface. People brought the man food and then left, but the man, unable to get out of his own bed, simply didn’t take the food or get a chance to eat it. When I went into the man’s room, I saw he wasn’t even able to go to the bathroom and instead was simply lying in bed covered in dirt. I immediately brought him water, as he complained of terrible thirst. When the ambulance arrived, he refused to be taken to the hospital, so the ambulance crew looked at the man and refused to touch him. Once he refused the ambulance team turned and left. But I couldn’t leave him like that.” 

Bismouth went to buy food and more water for the man and brought it to him and made sure he ate. Then he went home. But the whole situation bothered Bismouth so much so that he couldn’t sleep that night. He had taken photos of the state of the man’s apartment, and at midnight Bismouth uploaded them to his personal Facebook page with a plea for people from the community to join him in helping this man get back on his feet.

Instantly Bismouth started receiving replies from friends who also couldn’t tolerate that anyone was living in these conditions in their community. People from all different professions offered help, and others offered money and food. Bismouth’s phone was buzzing with the sheer number of responses his post was getting. “People were calling me all night long,” he says. “The hour didn’t matter—once they saw the photos, they called me and offered to help.” 

By morning other United Hatzalah volunteers, together with community members from Ramat Gan and Givatayim, had galvanized behind Bismouth’s efforts, and shifts were set up to come clean and renovate the apartment. United Hatzalah staff person Batsheva Soussan arranged for teams of volunteers to come from the Jerusalem area to help. 

“On Sunday morning half a dozen people came to the apartment to clean,” Bismouth recalls. “I bought a lot of bleach and began pouring it all over the bathroom and kitchen. Other United Hatzalah volunteers tackled the garbage and dirt. We worked throughout the day, and in the evening other members of the community who came home from work joined us.”

By the end of Monday, the team of volunteers, under the guidance of Bismouth and Soussan, had cleaned the house, thrown out the man’s furniture, bleached and painted the apartment, and brought him a new bed and sheets. United Hatzalah volunteers from all over the country began to donate furniture and bedding as well as other supplies needed. A lawyer volunteered to deal with all the man’s legal issues for free. An accountant volunteered to help the man with his financial situation, which was in a state of crisis. A manicurist/pedicurist came to treat and clean the man’s hands and feet, and a nurse from the nearby hospital came to give him a bath and assess his medical condition.

“It was amazing to see how the volunteers of United Hatzalah and the community as a whole banded together to help this man,” says Bismouth. “We had an air conditioner repairman come and install new units in his home, and an electrician came to fix the man’s lighting. All of this was done in the span of a few days. A contractor has agreed to redo the man’s kitchen and bathroom in the near future using the funds donated by the community as well as some of his own money, making both the bathroom and kitchen more accessible.” 

When asked how the man will fend for himself even with the clean apartment, new furniture, and new belongings, Bismouth replied: “Over the past few days, the man has been receiving therapy, and he will continue to receive regular visits from a physiotherapist who has volunteered to help. In fact, she has already enabled him to sit up and move his feet off the bed.”

Bismouth hopes now that people are working together to assist him, this man’s life will continue to improve. “We hope that by next week he will be able to walk on his own. We brought him a walker and canes, and right now he is getting over his anxiety and fear of falling. He had some bad falls in the past few months and is afraid of getting stuck on the floor. He has a back problem, but with continued rehabilitation and therapy, he can get up and walk, and in a few months, or maybe even a year, he will be able to get back to a regular life. He is only 66 years old—to let him live like this would be a tragedy I just couldn’t stomach, and thankfully, a lot of people agreed with me.”

After the apartment was cleaned and the man had new furniture and help at his home, he asked Bismouth to help him put on tefillin (phylacteries) so he could pray. “He hadn’t been able to put on tefillin in the longest time. When I first came into the house, the man asked me to help him say viddui (a confession of sins) because he thought he was going to die. Five days later he had a new beginning and was able to pray with honor and dignity. Out of everything, this was the most meaningful moment for me.”

Earlier Encounter

Bismouth had previously helped the man after a fall some four months prior. That story began in the early summer, when Bismouth responded to an emergency involving a subject who had fallen and was lying on the ground outside. “After the fall he was unable to get up, and I couldn’t pick him up,” Bismouth recalls. “It was a hot day, and the ground was so hot that he was getting scalded by the pavement. I went to the corner store and purchased a six-pack of water and poured it on the man to cool him and the ground around him so he wouldn’t get burned. When the ambulance arrived, the man refused to go to the hospital. The crew helped me pick him up, and I drove him home to his apartment in Ramat Gan. This is when I first met the fellow and for the first time saw how he lived. Back then he was still able to move somewhat, but even then his home was a disaster. I reported the incident to the local social worker in hopes they would follow up and assist the man. But sadly it appears this didn’t happen.”

Bismouth added that in the course of two days, more than 1,000 people volunteered, donated, and offered to help in any way they could, all because of his Facebook post. “Right now we have galvanized a veritable army of people who are willing to help out of the goodness of their hearts. Many are from United Hatzalah, and others are regular members of the community. Together with a few other people, I’m trying to organize an ongoing group that will pool resources and provide help to others like this man who are in dire need of assistance and living right here in our community.”

Raphael Poch is the international media spokesperson for United Hatzalah, Israel’s national volunteer EMS organization.