14-Year-Old Chareidi Boy R”L Killed After Jumping Off Bridge Into Jordan River

A 14-year-old Charedi boy, who was vacationing with his family near the kibbutz of Degania Aleph, some 10 kilometers south of Tevaria, jumped off of a bridge and into the Jordan river and hit his head. The boy suffered severe head trauma and lost consciousness immediately.

Bystanders who were in the area, together with the boy’s family members, pulled the boy from the water and onto the beach and alerted emergency response teams. United Hatzalah volunteers and Magen David Adom personnel arrived and began performing CPR on the boy in an attempt to stabilize him. He was originally in critical condition as the EMS responders treated him. Following an elongated CPR attempt at the beach, it was decided to transport the boy to Ziv Medical Center while still undergoing CPR. An MDA medical helicopter was called and airlifted the boy to the Medical Center where doctors in the trauma center were able to revive the boy to the point where his pulse returned. Treatment continued while he was still classified as being in critical condition.

United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Yair Nachum was one of the first responders at the scene and said following the incident: “When I arrived at the scene I saw bystanders performing CPR on the boy while they were receiving instructions over the phone from United Hatzalah’s dispatcher. With the assistance of a paramedic from United Hatzalah and other first responders, we performed CPR on the boy for a lengthy period of time, following which he was transported to the hospital in critical condition.”

Later on in the evening, a Spokesperson for the Ziv Medical Center announced that all efforts had failed and that the boy passed away in spite of every effort by the medical staff to save his life. The boy’s parents and siblings were with him when he died and the social worker of the hospital was assisting them.