"I felt that was it, my life was over. I couldn't breathe," described Staff Sergeant Raphael Melishev. "The bullet entered the vest and penetrated my body.
I was just thrown against the wall and broke ribs." Then Dr. Adi Horesh, the Givati Brigade doctor, saved his life in a daring decision in the field.
3 View gallery Rafael suffered a bullet to the chest ( Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit ) On the morning of October 7 , Melishev was at home in Rosh Haayin. As soon as the forces started to mobilize, he headed south. "The main thing for me was to join the force.
Morale was high, we knew what we were fighting for," he told Ynet. The first time he returned home was after 55 days of fighting. Since then, he has been leaving for a short breaks at home every month, until the forces arrived in Jabaliya.
On the first day of fighting, Raphael was shot in the chest. His comrade beside him called for help and they evacuated him to a tank. The next thing he remembers is Dr.
Adi Horesh, the Givati Brigade's doctor, who treated him in the APC. "She asked me, 'Raphael, how are you?' and calmed me down, had a conversation with me. She kept asking me questions until I couldn't answer anymore," he said.
"The soldiers who met me didn't think I would survive. I woke up in the hospital after only 12 hours while doctors estimated it would take two or three days. I needed help with everything: getting up to the bathroom or shower, taking me for a walk because I was connected to devices and couldn't .
