Baby Gali was seriously injured by an object that fell on the stroller

When Tomer Piran Peretz traveled in July as every afternoon with the cart with his eight-month-old daughter Gali, in their neighborhood in Petah Tikva, he did not believe the trip would end when a heavy plastic object hit her in the head and left her with a severe head injury.

“We were walking, and I stopped for a moment under the building because I got a call from my wife Maayan who was back from work. At that moment something fell from the sky and landed in the cart. I did not understand at first. Gali started whimpering a little and within seconds her head began to swell. Maayan, who was just on her way home and wanted to join the two’s trip, heard the crying and hurried to the place.

Within minutes the parents realized something was wrong and rushed with their daughter to the Schneider Center for Pediatrics which was two blocks from the residence. “I ran with her into the emergency room,” Maayan recalls the moments of horror. “We were shocked by the force of the object hitting the head. Half of Gali’s face was paralyzed, she barely moved her limbs on the left side of her body, she rolled her eyes and screamed in pain like we had never heard her before. We arrived at Schneider shocked and frightened by this shocking incident. “We were told she had a severe head injury and were rushed to intensive care.”

Gali, it was discovered, suffered from cerebral hemorrhage and severe head injury, psoriasis (paralysis of the facial nerve) and seizures. The test found that she was suffering from an extensive crisis on the right side of the skull and cerebral hemorrhage. Gali was hospitalized for several days in the intensive care unit at the Schneider Center, headed by Prof. Elhanan Nahum and operated on by Dr. Ivan Nowitzki, a senior physician in the Department of Neurosurgery. ” In order not to suffer from increased pressure, “says Dr. Amir Krashnovich, director of the neurosurgery unit at the Schneider Center.

“In the case of waves, the fracture was created in such a way that it detached from the skull itself and actually made room for the edematous brain that swelled and prevented further damage to pressure. .

“Every right side of her head was injured and the left side of her body did not respond,” the parents say. “The left side was paralyzed. One of the most shocking things was that she had a hollow look in her eyes. Anyone who knows her knows how prominent her blue eyes are and she has a curious look in her eyes and has not had it.”

The day after the injury, the parents asked the hospital to contact the police to file a complaint. “A policeman came to the hospital and took evidence and took the object thrown at her head. At the same time we investigated ourselves and managed to find that the part belonged to INTEXA’s home water pump. “In order to understand where the part was thrown from, we found that on the side where Tomer and Gali were standing, there are no balconies except on the top floor, where you can clearly see the INTEXA pool. We have no doubt that it was an object thrown from one of the balconies of the buildings in the neighborhood.” From here they were sure that the police would investigate and update them on the findings but they did not expect further police conduct.

“A few days later, each of us was teased separately to give additional testimony, in which he simply videotaped Gali’s medical condition before the injury and told us that investigators were there,” said Maayan, who also says that when she was called to leave little Gali’s bed while in intensive care to testify At the police station, the investigator told her that the case was probably going to be closed. “Of course I protested and told her that they must investigate. I remember in the transcript of the testimony that I said I was not willing to close the case, and nowhere is it stated that the investigator said they would close the case. I was in the market that the investigator told me that just passed. Five days from the filing of the complaint.What did they manage to do in five days, when two days of it was a weekend? Throughout the process we were not provided with basic things like updating us on the status of the investigation or even giving any official document. The only document we have is a confirmation regarding the filing of a complaint that I received when I came to testify. “

All this time while caring for and feeding their daughter who underwent severe surgery on her head and was then transferred to rehabilitation, they tried to find out what was going on with the complaint and how the investigation was progressing. “In the last conversation with the investigator on August 24, she informed us that she had completed the investigation and transferred the case to the State Attorney’s Office and that someone from there would already contact me. The feeling was that she was mainly trying to wave at me. We understood that such a process takes time.” The parents’ attempts to find out later what was happening with the investigation came to a dead end. Only after a request from Ynet did the parents discover that the case was closed on September 7. “It turns out that the case was closed due to an unknown offender. In addition, we were not marked as victims of the past, so we could not be found in the various systems to which I was referred.”

Meanwhile, Gali recovered from surgery in the intensive care unit and was transferred for further neurosurgical follow-up in the ward. Two and a half weeks after arriving at the Schneider Center, the baby was released and began a long and lengthy rehabilitation process at the Levinstein Rehabilitation Medical Center in Raanana. “Gali underwent a very successful rehabilitation process with us in a shorter time than expected and achieved significant progress in many areas,” says Dr. Sharon Sheklai, director of the Department of Child and Youth Rehabilitation in Levinstein. “She was treated by a multidisciplinary team that provided her with medical and nursing care. Physiotherapy, occupational therapy, communication and emotional accompaniment. Gali will need a long process of care in the community and we will continue to monitor, support and accompany the family. “

“It is very gratifying and exciting to see the waves of the day, after an amazing recovery from the severe injury. It is important to remember that in head injuries in infants and young children, because the brain has not yet finished developing, there can be a process called neuroplasticity, in which whole areas and functional units within the nervous system “And the brain changes its function and pattern of activity, in response to a brain injury. That is, the brain ‘compensates’ affected areas and uses other areas of the brain to perform various actions.” Dr. Amir Kreshnovich adds, “We can not know exactly what the extent of Gali’s brain injury is and whether there will be long-term consequences. We hope the injury will be as minimal as possible.”

Tomer and Maayan say that Gali’s condition has improved, but another long rehabilitation awaits her. “Before the injury she would stand, eat alone, and the injury made her unable to sit. There was no movement of the left side for a week and a half. The surgery went well and she underwent rehabilitation for four months, but no one can tell us exactly what the injury is. The future, “the parents say. “She has a problem with motor skills in her left hand, there will probably be a problem in the field of vision, in terms of speech and language there may be delays. We are happy that at least the joy of life is back in her eyes.”

The Israel Police reported“Immediately upon receipt of the report, the police opened an investigation, during which a variety of actions were carried out and various directions of investigation were examined, which were denied. After the investigation was completed, it was decided to end the investigation.”