A 20-year-old Palestinian shepherd from the village of Rantis was saved by the swift actions of Border Police officers after being bitten by a viper on Sunday night.
The shepherd, Rami Hariziat Hassan, had fallen asleep while his goats and sheep grazed, his friend, Raja Talam Va’ada, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
“Suddenly, a snake bit him on the foot. We rushed to a local checkpoint and asked the soldiers for help. They really helped us,” Va’ada added.
When he got to the checkpoint, Hassan’s condition quickly deteriorated as the snake’s venom spread through his system.
“He nearly died. He wasn’t breathing,” Va’ada recalled.
Border Police quickly brought in a medic who began providing the snake bite victim with first aid. Meanwhile, officers called in an Israeli ambulance and instructed the drivers to rush the victim to the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer.
“We kept in touch with doctors to monitor his condition, and ensured that the snake, which had been killed after it attacked, arrived at the hospital [so that doctors would know which anti venom to use],” Border Police Spokesman Moshe Pinchi told The Post.
“The doctors gave him a shot and saved him. We want to thank everyone – the Border Police and the hospital doctors,” said Va’ada. “Well done to everyone.”
“A human being is a human being, whether Jew or Arab. I recently called an ambulance tafter witnessing an [Israeli] car flip over on the road,” he added.
Before being released from hospital, Border Police officers came to visit Hassan to check up on his condition and bring him candy.