Volunteer ambulance driver who evacuated dozens of bodies from the Nova music festival is recognized as a victim of hostilities with severe PTSD.
The National Insurance Institute (NII) recently recognized a ZAKA volunteer in his 30s, resident of a moshav near Kiryat Gat, as a high-degree PTSD victim, following his exposure to harsh scenes during the Hamas massacre on October 7th.
The man reported that he was called to serve as an ambulance driver for ZAKA in Ashkelon, where he assisted a pregnant woman and shooting victims, evacuating them to Barzilai Hospital. At the hospital, he saw the number of bodies piling up in the morgue and began to understand the vast scope of the disaster.
Later, he was stationed, together with a team of other ZAKA volunteers, at the site of the Nova festival near Kibbutz Reim, where they removed many bodies from the road and continued to collect other bodies from the site, which he said stank of burnt flesh and experienced many harsh sights.
He continued to say that on the way members of the ambulance crew found many more bodies scattered on the road and moved them to the side of the road, an act that deeply affected him. “The very fact that we left bodies behind and continued to drive left me with a very heavy emotional burden, since we generally take every body and treat the person appropriately, including immediate burial,” he added in his claim to the NII. He described working many hours “collecting bodies, wrapping them in bags and loading them onto trucks,” in situations where “the victims could not be identified.”
Later, he continued to remove bodies from Kfar Azza as well, sometimes under gunfire. He added that, despite previous difficult experiences at Zaka, this extreme case affected him greatly and caused severe feelings of guilt, nightmares and difficulties in functioning.
With the assistance of Adv. Shiran Cohen, he applied to the NII for recognition as a victim of hostile acts. He attached psychiatric opinions and professional opinions from therapists at the Amcha organization, which determined that he is suffering from a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The National Security Council’s medical committee has determined a temporary disability of 40% for the first year, and 30% disability for 2025 – rights that entitle him to a monthly stipend of thousands of shekels.
Adv. Cohen noted that at the end of the temporary period, the medical committee will reconvene to determine the degree of permanent disability.
