Hezbollah are not planning to give us a break and the sirens up north are heard to this day. MDA Paramedic, Yoni Lankri, is telling us his own story for the first time, about life in Kiryat Shmona, under missile attacks.
Yoni lives in Kiryat Shmona. In 2000, he started volunteering at Magen David Adom and as of 2015, he began working as a paramedic. He is married to Moran and father to three children: 4-year-old twins and a 2-year-old toddler. On the morning of October 7th, Yoni planned to celebrate the twins’ birthday, but the events of that day prevented him from even thinking about it:
”Like the rest of ‘Am Israel’, we woke up to the horrifying videos of trucks crossing from Gaza to Israel. These terrifying events made us forget about our children’s birthday. I immediately understood that although most of the events are occurring down south, the consequences would soon affect the north of Israel.
As soon as Hezbollah started attacking, my wife and children evacuated to the Sharon Region to stay with close family. Later on, they moved into a hotel in Netanya, where they are still “living” to this day.”
The physical distance from Yoni’s family might be difficult for him, but their connection is deeper than ever: ”My wife says she married Magen David Adom first and then, married me. I get a phone call from her after each and every siren, as she’s making sure I’m ok.”
Apart from the typical injuries induced by missile attacks, the medical teams of Kiryat Shmona took care of many anxiety cases: ”on the first days of the war I arrived to a soldier in the reserve, who showed strong symptoms of PTSD. He watched a video of his fellow soldier abused body. We evacuated him to the hospital, and I was glad that we managed to calm him down as much as possible and give him enveloping attention he needed.
When he is not on duty, Yoni takes care of the standby class that he guided and trained, and spends time with his friends at the station: “We are together in the campaign. We protect our home, our citizens and our soldiers. The sense of mission is very strengthening. The social work environment definitely helps. The meetings, the joint meals, the personal conversations, the knowledge that we are all carrying out the task together, it gives me a lot of strength.”
The city streets of Kiryat Shmona are vacant, as over 80% of its citizens evacuated. Magen David Adom teams continue to aid those who stayed, as well as the soldiers, security forces and others that who moved there: ”I want to make sure that those who stayed in Kiryat Shmona and its surroundings will know that they’re in good hands, and that we’re here for them”.
And what about the danger? How do you cope with working shifts under missile attacks for over 6 months? Yoni replies: ”It’s a tough question. At the end of the day no one wants to die and risk their lives so dramatically, but that’s part of what we do here at Magen David Adom. As of the current situation, with the support of my family, I will stick to the tasks that Magen David Adom, the civilians, and the soldiers expect of me.”
We are proud of you and wish that you could reunite with your family as soon as possible. Thank you for your service, and for your contribution to saving lives in Israel.
Picture credit: Guy Sidi
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