Paramedic Delivers Baby in Ambulance Dedicated to Slain Son

Three years after his son Dor was murdered in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7, Magen David Adom paramedic Tzvi Reider experienced a poignant full circle moment. Reider used a new ambulance, inaugurated in his son's memory, for its first call: assisting in the birth of a baby boy. Two ambulances, one bulletproof, were recently dedicated in Dor Reider's memory at Kibbutz Sa'ad. At the inauguration ceremony, Tzvi Reider expressed hope that the ambulances would serve those in need, particularly "happy and excited mothers giving birth." Shortly after, this wish was fulfilled when Reider was dispatched to a woman in labor near the entrance to Kibbutz Be'eri. He contacted Hila Barbitz, a midwife, and they proceeded to the location. "On the way, I told Hila that I hoped we could bring life into the ambulance. On the way to Be'eri, I felt Dor and knew he was here with me," Reider recounted. Near Kibbutz Alumim, they spotted a car on the side of the road with Pnina Yiska Bitton, heavily pregnant and experiencing frequent contractions. Reider and Barbitz brought her into the ambulance and realized they wouldn't reach a hospital in time. "We prepared to deliver the baby on the ambulance stretcher. A cute and healthy baby boy was born, and we then transported Pnina Yiska and her son to the hospital," Reider explained. He later shared his son's story with the parents, who described the experience as "very moving and chilling," filled with both the joy of new life and profound grief. Dor Reider had moved to Kibbutz Be'eri to mentor a child with special needs. On October 7, while his father was evacuating casualties under fire, Dor and his partner Tchelet Fishbein were murdered in the kibbutz. Eight days after the birth, on the eve of the holiday of Simchat Torah, Tzvi Reider attended the baby's circumcision. The child was named 'Mevaser Tov' (Bringer of Good News). The mother stated the baby "brought good news to Tzvi, brought good news to the road that absorbed so much blood on October 7, and he brought good news to us." Reider emotionally described the delivery as a "gift," especially during the High Holidays, helping him cope with his personal loss and marking a significant closure.

He added that the ambulance, in its first call, helping to bring life into the world, "is proof that there is continuity for the people of Israel. I am happy to have had this amazing privilege. May we only do good and only hear good news."