For Caryn Gale and Sergio Geralnik, volunteering for United Hatzalah has been integral to their relationship since the beginning.
“I made aliyah some 30 years ago, and around six years ago, I remarried with Sergio,” Gale said. “Already on our first date, he told me how important his service as a volunteer was to him, and if I would be interested in becoming a volunteer myself.”
Like most of the country, on October 7 the couple, who live in Modi’in, was woken up by the sound of sirens.
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Soon, they received a message from United Hatzalah asking them to be on high alert. A little later, the chief paramedic of Modi’in alerted their local WhatsApp group that they were looking for an ambulance driver with a specific certification, like Sergio, to drive the vehicle down south.
“They were also looking for a full crew, so I told Sergio that he could go as long as I was coming with him,” Gale recalled. “I must admit that I had no idea what we were about to face.”
Within minutes, the couple changed from their Shabbat outfits and prepared to leave.
“At the last moment, I went to our pantry to see if we had food to bring with us, but the only thing I found was a package of lollipops left over from the bags of treats I had prepared for my grandchildren to celebrate Simchat Torah,” Gale said. “I took them with me.”
As they reached the south, the scene they encountered was devastating.
“The road was lined up with bodies,” Gale said.
The first patient they evacuated was a young soldier with severe gunshot wounds.
“He was shot in the back of his head, he had a hole in a lung which was causing him serious problems in breathing, and his hand was at a funny angle,” Gale recalled. “A couple of weeks ago, we were told that the family of the soldier was looking for the crew who evacuated him, and we went to see him again. It was a miracle for me to see this young man again. He will probably never fully recover from his wounds, but he will live.”
The couple spent the whole day driving back and forth to evacuate wounded people and witnessing the atrocities committed by the terrorists.
“Sometimes we took in a second patient in the back of the ambulance,” Gale said. “The road was like an obstacle course of death.”
“They kept asking me why the ambulance was swerving so much,” Geralnik recalled. “They did not realize that it was impossible to drive straight without hitting a body, a vehicle, or something else on the road.”
At some point, the crew was caring for the members of two families with young children to ensure they were okay, when the sirens went off.
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“There was the noise of the rockets, gunshots, the sirens, smoke everywhere, and the children became hysterical, sobbing and crying,” Gale said. “All of a sudden, I remembered that I had lollipops and gave them to the children. They stopped crying. I am a grandmother, and I know that no matter what, when you give a lollipop to a child, their face lights up.”
Later at night, Caryn and Sergio got home.
“My wife got into the shower,” Geralnik recalled. “After a few minutes, she told me that the blood was not coming off, but there was no more blood on her. I understood how she was feeling, still soaked with all the blood we saw and touched that day. I contacted Hatzalah, and they made sure that someone from the psycho-trauma team talked to us – to make us realize what had just happened and face it in a much better way.”
The Jerusalem Post is proud to partner with United Hatzalah on the Lights and Lifesavers project to honor the October 7 massacre heroes of Hanukkah. To support the country’s first responders, visit www.jpost.1eye.us/lifesavers2023.