Doron’s Story

17-year-old Doron sustained critical internal injuries in the December 5, 2005 suicide bombing at the Sharon Mall in Netanya and had to be air-lifted by helicopter to a hospital in Hadera. Though he was not burned, he had several severe internal injuries from pieces of the metal that had been packed in the bomb. This metal penetrated his stomach, chest, sides and very near to his heart. Doctors did not think that he would live, but the LORD saw him through. He has since undergone several surgeries. His mother was seriously wounded in the same attack and was in another hospital in Netanya. When I visited him in the hospital in Hadera, I was surprised to find him all alone. Because he is in another town, he wasn’t surrounded by all the friends or family that you would expect to see.

In the attack, Doron had been standing right next to the bomber. He said that when he turned around, the bomber looked him straight in the eyes and smiled. At the same time, he detonated his bomb. The force of the blast threw Doron up several meters in the air and then further away so he was not burned but caught the parts of the bomb. Agonizingly, he said that now he can never get the sight of the smile on the bomber’s face out of his mind…every time he closes his eyes, he sees him….still standing there and smiling. Consequently, he is afraid to sleep and when he does he has nightmares of someone coming. But we know that the LORD wants to give Doron “beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for the spirit of heaviness…”

We have developed a good relationship with him and the rest of his family as we make on-going visits with him. A dear sister-in-the LORD in Oklahoma has taken him into her heart and frequently sends monetary gifts that enable us to do special things for him. He and the whole family have been tremendously blessed and encouraged by this unexpected outpouring of love from “total strangers.”