Among the 16 new EMTs who graduated Magen David Adom’s course in Haifa, was a 26-year-old cancer researcher who decided she could not be helpless in the face of acute medical need.
When Ghazal Hasboun was seven years old, her family took a vacation to Mount Hermon where they witnessed a horrible car accident in which many were injured, and a child was killed. Her family tried to help, but couldn’t, since they had no medical knowledge. The memory of the accident stayed with her.
“The decision to volunteer with MDA came from a sense of mission following a traumatic event I experienced as a child that is etched in my memory,” Hasboun said. “The feeling of helplessness in the face of the accident remains in me to this day.”
Khashibun, an Arab-Israeli from Kfar Kana in Northern Israel, has a master’s degree and works as a cancer researcher. Her sister is also a volunteer with MDA.
Hasboun reflected, “Every time I get on the ambulance, I feel like I’m closing a circle. The pain and helplessness of that time turned into strength and hope.”
