In his day job, Ziv Shapira is a paramedic with Magen David Adom’s helicopter unit. In his free time, Shapira is an impressive cook and a contestant on the current season of the “Master Chef” television cooking show. In a recent segment on Israel’s Channel 12, Shapira invites his fellow “Master Chef” contestants to cook for the MDA helicopter paramedics, pilots, and teammates in the MDA helicopter base kitchen.
In the show, Shapira speaks about his work as a helicopter paramedic as well as his love of cooking. When asked what the most complex task is he’s done mid-air, Shapira recounts an incident when he had to perform a chest drain. He notes that the arrival times to the hospitals are short so if they need to perform complex procedures like that, the situation must really call for it.
Shapira also describes his experience evacuating severely wounded patients on October 7. As the dark day progressed and the magnitude of the situation became more apparent, MDA tripled its force from one helicopter serving the south to three helicopters continuously evacuating severe casualties. Shapira flew patients to whichever hospitals had space since Soroka, the nearest hospital, was at capacity. When his helicopter landed back on site after evacuating patients, the ground crew instructed them to get back in the air so as not to encounter the terrorists. The roads were crawling with Hamas terrorists and ambulances were hit.
Shapira joined “Master Chef” in memory of his late wife, Hani, who was killed in a car accident last year. The two cooked together and Hani encouraged Ziv to compete in “Master Chef.” “I chose to live… in my work as a paramedic and my love for cooking.”
By the end of the show, the MDA helicopter crew enjoys the fruits of the “Master Chef” contestants’ labors. MDA helicopter paramedics Chen Vermus and Shafir Botner are asked how they find the meal and both agree that it was very tasty. “I feel for the judges,” says Vermus when asked if he could choose a winner. “They have tough dilemmas.”
