Dr. Vadim Braslavsky hopes people in Kansas City who rally to support Israel will also do so with their checkbooks. The Israeli ER doctor is raising funds to help a victim of terror her recently treated.
Even though he lives in Israel, it’s unusual for Dr. Braslavsky, a trauma doctor at Assaf HaRofeh Medical Center in central Israel, to treat terror victims. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}Through email, he said life there is quiet, and “we rarely see victims of terror, even with the current escalation.”
“Most trauma cases come from motor vehicle accidents and sometimes from the nearby Arab neighborhoods, where local Arab residents injure each other. I witnessed more violence working in Kansas City, Missouri,” he said.
Dr. Braslavsky immigrated to New York City from the former Soviet Union in 1989 and moved to Kansas City in 1993 to start a family practice residency at University of Kansas Medical Center. After he finished residency here, he worked in local emergency rooms until he made aliyah in 2011.
Earlier this month the current violence in Israel came close to home for Dr. Braslavsky as he treated Daniel, a terrorist victim. He decided to write friends in the Kansas City community about this experience, and about the victim, in hopes of helping Daniel financially during his recovery period.
“I first met Daniel on Nov. 2, 2015, in the ER, as he was being wheeled in on an ambulance cot, covered with blood and struggling to breathe. Daniel, a 31-year-old young man from Bnei Brak, had been on a bus in Rishon Lezion, where he works as a kashrut supervisor. Daniel is an innocent-looking, peaceful man, about 4 feet, 11 inches tall with a medium build and payot (earlocks or side curls.) That day, a terrorist — a tall, 19-year-old Arab resident of Hevron — chose him as a target. While on the bus, the terrorist grasped Daniel with his left arm and then tried to slash Daniel’s neck with a knife in his right hand. Trying to protect his neck, Daniel instinctively tilted his head to the left.
“This saved his life,” said Dr. Braslavsky, who attended BIAV and Chabad while living in Kansas City.
(For more on the attack in Rishon Lezion see the Jerusalem Post article about the terror attack: http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Breaking-Suspected-terror-attack-in-Rishon-Lezion-3-wounded-431802.)
Dr. Braslavsky said the terrorist kept his hold on Daniel and continued stabbing him with the knife. Daniel suffered multiple stab wounds to his chest and abdomen and deep slash wounds to the head and rear neck. When he arrived at the hospital, he was in a state of hemorrhagic shock.
“There he was given initial trauma care and was urgently transferred to the operating room. His liver, spleen, lung and intestines were injured. Surgery lasted for several hours,” Dr. Braslavsky said.
He was hospitalized for more than a week. Dr. Braslavsky said that due to the severe injuries Daniel received, his every breath is painful.
“Walking upright is extremely painful, as his abdomen and chest are covered with the healing scars,” the doctor said. “His spleen could not be saved and Daniel is now under the constant threat of serious infections for the rest of his life. In spite of all this, he remains optimistic and even tries to smile through the pain as he talks about his family — a wife and five daughters.”
Dr. Braslavsky wants to help Daniel and his family because it will be some time before he can return to work. He has set up a link where donations may be made to a PayPal account, assuring readers he will “personally transfer all of your donations to him.” The link to PayPal is: http://tinyurl.com/nfdh3tl. You may also contact the doctor directly at .
Rabbi Mendy Wineberg, program director of Chabad House Center of Kansas City, has known Dr. Braslavsky for over 15 years and can personally attest to his deep compassion and integrity.
“Dr. Braslavsky is one of the most caring doctors that I know. In 2010, when Haiti was struck with the devastating earthquake, he collected blankets, clothes and medical supplies and spent two weeks there, all on his own dime. I have complete trust in him,” Rabbi Wineberg said.
For those who prefer to donate to a 501(c)3, Rabbi Wineberg said, “Chabad would be happy to accept local donations and forward them on to Dr. Braslavsky.” Contact Rabbi Wineberg at .
Dr. Braslavsky told The Chronicle seeing such senseless violence is always difficult.
“On the other hand, being in Israel during these difficult times makes my life more meaningful. I feel attached to the land, and I feel a part of people who live here. Although I was born in Russia and lived many years in America where I left many dear friends, here in Israel I feel that I am in the right place, and I am here to stay.”{/mprestriction}
