I Breathe You into My Heart

November 2, 2022

20 years ago, Aviad Ohion was mortally wounded in an attack at the pre-military training school in Samona: “I was without a pulse. The doctor had already placed me with the bodies in the field and when they took me out it was a miracle.”

The attack left Aviad paralyzed in his lower body, a paralysis that required him to undergo lengthy rehabilitation at Sheba Medical Center, after which he was able to conquer peak after peak: he studied for a bachelor’s and master’s degree, did an MBA at Wharton University in the USA and won medals in the Israel Swimming Championships.

Out of this life also grew a new life. Last week he and his wife Liara gave birth to their first son, after two daughters, at the Women’s and Maternity Hospital at the Sheba Medical Center. The baby was born in the natural birth room, at the couple’s request. “The birth was amazing,” he says.

The relationship between Aviad (39) and Sheba continued throughout his life: his mother was a nurse at Sheba, he grew up until the age of 3 in Tel Hashomer workers’ housing, he underwent rehabilitation after his injury here, and if that wasn’t enough, his wife Yara works at Sheba as the director of the Center for Medical Genetic Engineering.

“I have fulfilled almost all my dreams. The only thing left is the dream that they will find a cure to repair a damaged spinal cord. I see myself getting up from my chair one day and running after the child I am now holding in my arms.”