A Magen David Adom EMT and ambulance driver bravely saved his grandson and himself from gunshot wounds on October 7.
On the morning of October 7, Refael Samet was on standby for MDA at home in Kissufim, a kibbutz adjacent to Gaza.
At 6:30 in the morning, Samet began hearing Red Alert sirens. “It’s like this as usual – we wait for the rocket strikes to stop and go out to search for the wounded,” recalled Samet. “This time it was different, unusual. We started hearing grenades and IEDs falling and exploding.”
Samet’s grandson Idan, a soldier in the IDF who was home for the weekend, went outside and approached a group of soldiers to see if they needed help. It turned out that the men were not soldiers, but Hamas terrorists dressed in IDF uniforms. The terrorists shot him in the arm and thigh. Despite his injuries, Idan managed to make it back to his grandfather’s home, shouting that he was injured when he arrived.
Samet helped Idan into his home’s shelter and ran out to the MDA ambulance which was parked near his house to get medical equipment to treat Idan’s wounds. In the short time he was outside his home, Samet was shot in the hand by a terrorist. He went home, quickly bandaged himself up, and continued to take care of his grandson. Samet sent a message to his community’s MDA volunteer group telling them that he and his grandson were hurt and needed help. It wasn’t until 11 p.m. that night that the IDF managed to eliminate the terrorists in Kissufim and evacuate Samet and his grandson to the hospital. The MDA ambulance he drove was completely destroyed. Terrorists shot all four wheels, the sides, and the windows.
