Shlomo Perel, senior EMT and ambulance driver, as well as a lieutenant colonel in the IDF medical corps, epitomizes the Israeli spirit. Perel started volunteering with Magen David Adom more than 30 years ago as a youth volunteer when he was 15 years old.
Twenty-four years ago, Perel was seriously injured in a terrorist attack while he was driving home from IDF reserve duty. Terrorists opened fire on his car, and he was shot in the arm and in his lung. A MDA team arrived at the scene, saved Perel’s life, and evacuated him to the hospital, where he underwent further treatment and rehabilitation.
Now, due to lingering pain from the attack, the father of 13 and grandfather of two mainly focuses his work with MDA on teaching first aid and EMT courses. “Following the terror attack and the prolonged rehabilitation I’m still undergoing, I realized that my mission now is to pass my knowledge on to the next dedicated generation that wants to volunteer and save lives,” said Perel. “I love sharing that knowledge.”
Saving lives runs in the Perel family: Perel’s son is a paramedic and his daughter is a volunteer EMT. Perel said, “I make sure that everyone I encounter, family, friends, and students alike, are all bitten by the ‘MDA bug,’ and joins us in saving lives.”
Watch an interview with Shlomo Perel:
