Paramedic Reunites With Twins He Saved After Birth Emergency

A paramedic from Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service, Sahar Barel, recently met for the first time with twin boys he saved after a complicated home birth. The twins, Chaim Yosef David and Mordechai Eliyahu, were born at their home in Nahariya without a pulse or breathing, presenting in breech positions. Barel and his team performed resuscitation efforts on both infants until their hearts began beating again.

The incident occurred a year prior when the mother, Esther Markovitz, 42, went into labor at home. Her husband, Idan, called the MDA emergency hotline reporting the breech birth and that the baby was not breathing. An MDA dispatcher provided instructions for CPR while emergency responders were dispatched.

Barel, leading an intensive care unit team, arrived and took over the resuscitation efforts. He noted the extreme complexity of twin births, especially breech presentations, which are best handled in a hospital. "For minutes that felt like an eternity, I fought along with the team for the baby's life until his heart started beating again, while simultaneously preparing for the birth of his twin brother," Barel recounted.

The second twin was also born in a breech position, without a pulse or breathing. "There was no room for hesitation, we had to immediately begin resuscitation to save the newborns' lives. It was a double fight for life, and we didn't stop until both their hearts were beating again," Barel said.

Following successful resuscitation, the twins were transported with their mother to the hospital. A year later, at a reunion facilitated after the twins' hospital discharge, the parents expressed profound gratitude to Barel and his team, calling them "God's best messengers." Barel, who is also a twin, shared that the experience was personally moving and reinforced his commitment to his work with MDA.