Lt. Matanel Kriger, who was critically wounded by a Kornet missile near the Lebanon border, was discharged Tuesday afternoon from Rambam Medical Center in Haifa after about three and a half months of treatment. Kriger, from Kfar Haro'eh in central Israel, said goodbye to the doctors and nurses who had treated him continuously since his arrival, telling them: "When I got here a few months ago, I was dead. Yes, dead." He said the team performed prolonged resuscitation and saved his life.
Kriger was serving as a company deputy commander in the Givati Brigade when he was hit in early March in an attack on an IDF post in southern Lebanon. His father, Rabbi Avraham Kriger, said the missile threw him into a trench beside the outpost and that two additional missile strikes later landed in open ground, sparing his life. Matanel lost both legs, underwent complex surgeries, and spent months sedated and ventilated. His family remained by his side throughout, along with support from fellow soldiers, Israelis, and Jewish communities abroad.
The family said he is now headed to Sheba Medical Center for a long rehabilitation process, including fitting prosthetic legs. Rabbi Kriger said the family was leaving after "three and a half months of surgeries," treatments in several departments, and time in the underground ward during the war with Iran. His sister Jody said the family understands recovery will take time but is moved by the support. Their mother, Tzivia, asked the public to keep praying for his recovery and called what happened to him a miracle.
The injury occurred when Hezbollah fighters fired more than 10 anti-tank missiles at IDF positions in southern Lebanon from several locations and from 7 to 8 kilometers away. Another Givati soldier was moderately wounded. In response, the IDF fired heavy barrages from several areas as part of a combat-response plan prepared by Northern Command after the previous Lebanon campaign. Rambam’s director general, Dr. Michal Makl, said Kriger had entered the hospital in very serious condition by helicopter and that the staff wanted to see him return one day walking on both legs.
