Nurse’s chance discovery saves a hospital visitor’s life

Raphael Darr, was visiting his wife late at night at Shaare Zedek when he started to experience severe chest pain and was struggling to breath. By some miracle, Ariel Halevy a nurse in the Department of General Surgery was walking through the department and heard very noticeable sounds of ‘distressed breathing’ coming from a patient room.

The room wasn’t one that Ariel had been assigned to as a nurse, but he knew there was no time to waste. Rushing in to the room, Ariel found Mr Darr desperately trying to breathe while holding tightly to the armchair he was sitting in. He could see that Mr Darr was losing consciousness and called out for help. Thanks to Ariel’s quick actions and the help of two fellow nurses, Aviya and Racheli, Mr Darr was quickly transferred to the Emergency Department for immediate attention. He was then transferred to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, where further tests revealed he was experiencing a cardiac arrest which required his heart to be shocked three times, as well as being resuscitated.

In large part due to Ariel’s early intervention and professional sense that something was wrong, three days later Mr Darr was discharged from hospital in good health. He is now able to continue to support his wife who has been cared for at Shaare Zedek for a number of months.

Mr Darr says he has very little recollection of what happened that night but is so thankful to Ariel for being there to save his life. “I had no prior indications that this was coming as I was in overall good health. My wife had been hospitalized for several weeks after detecting an intestinal tumour and I have spent many hours alongside her bed praying for her recovery. I know for sure that if Ariel hadn’t gotten to me in time, by morning there would have been no one to be treating. Hashem performed a huge miracle and sent Ariel as our angel at the very right place and time.”

Dr Dmitry Dratva who treated Mr Darr says that he was extremely lucky and this was certainly a case where the patient’s life was saved by the awareness of the nursing staff in the Surgical Department. “Mr Darr was released home in good condition, and we will continue to closely monitor his progress and wish him and his wife a full and complete recovery.”