Lena Liani, a ninth-grader enrolled in a training program run by Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical service, was just days away from taking her midterm exam when her training was unexpectedly put to the test. Coming home from school, Lena noticed her father, Rafael, was acting abnormally.

“He wasn’t speaking clearly, made strange movements, and fell on the couch,” Lena said. Drawing on the medical assessments she had recently studied, she performed basic checks and suspected he might be having a stroke. “I told my mother that we had to take him to the hospital,” she said.

A stroke is a medical emergency that occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted or reduced, preventing brain tissue from getting oxygen and nutrients. This can cause brain cells to begin dying within minutes.

At the hospital, doctors sedated Rafael and placed him on a respirator. They determined that while it wasn’t a stroke, the symptoms were caused by a life-threatening bacterial infection in the brain. According to the medical team, Lena’s quick thinking and insistence on urgent care saved his life.

“I feel proud of myself that I joined the course and had the tools to understand that something was wrong,” Lena said. “I think everyone should know how to recognize such cases in a basic way. I enrolled so that I could help people and save lives. I never imagined it would come so close to home, or that I’d be the one to save my father’s life.”

Rafael is now recovering.

“After I woke up, they told me about Lena’s role and her quick reflexes in helping me. I am infinitely grateful to her,” he said. “I have only one piece of advice for all parents—send your children to first aid training!”

Image -  Tomer Neuberg/Flash90