Oz Ocampo, a volunteer EMT at the MDA station in Shlomi and a combat soldier in the IDF, was critically wounded in the fighting in Gaza last March during an operational mission, two weeks before he finished the commander's course. He was airlifted to the Soroka Hospital where he was sedated and ventilated.
During the same incident in which Oz was injured in Gaza, his good friend Dolev Haim Malka HY”D, also a dedicated MDA volunteer EMT, was killed.
Whilst Oz was recuperating at Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer, he missed and dreamt of going back and volunteering with MDA. Last month Oz's dream came true when, for the first time since his injury, he and his father Adrian, a Magen David Adom paramedic, went on a surprise shift in a MICU ambulance in order to return and save the lives of others. His father Adrian said that MDA is one of the main things in Oz's life, who started volunteering at MDA at the age of 15. During the exciting shift, Oz and Adrian went out together to treat the wounded, bringing Oz one step closer to fulfilling his dream of returning to MDA.
Oz Ocampo: "I was very excited to return to the MICU, to help and treat others. I want to tell all the wounded who are recovering and recuperating, that every time they wake up in the morning they should see the positive side of things. Don't concentrate on grief and sorrow, concentrate on what is good, what they can get out of it, and here today I was able to fulfill a dream and do a few hours of shift on the MICU.”
