Elisha Meidan, 45, who was critically injured over two months ago in a deadly explosion from a bobby-trapped tunnel shaft in Gaza, is currently undergoing rehabilitation at Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer.

Elisha, who lost both of his legs in the explosion, spoke to Reshet Bet last week about his optimistic view of his new life – without legs, with holes in his lungs and intestines, and suffering from recurrent infections. When asked how he felt, he replied “Excellent.” He was asked to explain. “I need to explain excellent?” he responded. “I’m happy, healthy overall, feeling great.”

Regarding the explosion in Beit Hanoun, during which he lost four of his friends, he said: “I was seriously injured by a bomb. Both of my legs were blown off. At the very first minute, I realized that I lost my legs. In addition, shrapnel penetrated my stomach, cutting my intestines and lungs. My hearing was also impaired.”

Apart from that first moment, Elisha doesn’t remember the moments of his injury. “Unfortunately, my memory has been erased. I remember the military operation I was carrying out but only until the moment of the injury.”

“I was in the first reserves force. We were looking for a Hamas tunnel shaft where we knew terrorists were supposed to emerge from. We went from building to building in the area until we found the shaft. When we entered, they set off an explosive device on us.”

Elisha was one of six soldiers injured in the explosion, five seriously. “My legs were immediately blown off in the explosion. The walls of the building fell on us. We lay under the rubble with amputated limbs with burns from the blast. I lay in the hallway of the house next to my friend Yossi, who is also an amputee and we waited to be rescued.”

He had high words of praise for the soldiers who entered the booby-trapped building to carry out the rescue. “In a rather daring action, my friends entered a house that was suspected of being booby-trapped and a house that was booby-trapped – apart from the explosive device that was detonated on us – nevertheless they came in and did what was necessary to stop the bleeding. We were then evacuated to another building where all the battalion’s medical teams treated us the best they could and transferred us to the border.”

“I fully understood the situation four days later in Shaare Tzedek – when I woke up, I immediately realized that I had no legs and that my good friends had been killed.”

“I developed infections and my body fought to overcome them – it led to severe pain and high fever.

“I’m beginning to gain some understanding of my new life but I’m leaving it open. I look at it as a mid-life adventure at the age of 45. Not many people receive such a gift in mid-life. If I had to choose, I would choose to have legs but this is the reality. At first, they thought I was dead. I said Shema Yisrael and Vidui, so everything I received, I received as a gift. I’m happy with the body that remained for me – it’s a gift, a new adventure.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)