“We haven’t seen Mom in two months, the most painful thing is that you can’t say goodbye”

4,245 corona patients have died in Israel since the outbreak of the plague, and despite the large-scale vaccination campaign, the numbers continue to grow. For nine days in a row, more than 40 people died every day, and a week ago the daily death toll reached a painful peak of 59 dead. Ynet brings the stories of the people behind the numbers.

Yigal Tiram, 68, from Hadera, was a pensioner of the “Zim” company. He survived a severe stroke and even managed to get his first vaccine, but the corona did not miss him. “He spent the days sitting on Olga Hill with friends, who are also retired, chatting, playing dominoes, going to the sea. He was a good man, so happy and loved,” said his brother Gabi.

For many years, Yigal worked in the chimneys of Hadera, where he had a stroke that they thought would not get out of him. “He survived it even though there was no chance and decided to retire and rest. That’s why he got married and had a child at a late age, it took him a few years to get back to himself. Now his child, who was his whole world, is left without a father,” Gabi said.

He added that he did not believe that after all he had been through, the corona would be the one to back up his life. “He got the first vaccine about three weeks ago and two days after he got vaccinated I called him and heard him panting heavily,” Gabi said. “I asked him why he was like that. He thought it was a side effect of the vaccine. I told him to go to the hospital immediately.”

A week after the vaccine, Yigal was diagnosed with corona and within a week and a half his condition worsened. “He called me from the intensive care unit, said his condition had improved and he was feeling better. We already thought he was getting out of it,” Gabi said. “On Sunday morning I called like every day to ask how the night went. The nurse answered me and said his condition was getting worse and they needed to anesthetize and feminize him, they told me the disease was like that, there are momentary changes, and that’s it. Four days after that he passed away.” Yigal is survived by an only son, 16, and five brothers.

He was 91 years old Joseph Sachi From Karmiel at his death. Hundreds of city residents knew him as “Sachi and the Mandolin,” the mythological music teacher in the city’s early years. Sachi, who was supposed to receive the title “Dear of the City” this year, died this week in the Corona ward at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, and was laid to rest in his hometown.

Sachi went through the Holocaust in Hungary and after the war studied music in Budapest. “We immigrated to Israel in 1957 and settled in Kibbutz Parod, which was a kibbutz of Hungarians,” said his daughter Hava. “He did not get along with life on the kibbutz and as soon as they established Karmiel we moved – father, mother and I – here.”

The musician Sachi was immediately integrated into the cultural and educational life of the young city. He taught music at the only elementary school at the time, Palmach, formed orchestras of flutes and mandolins and later taught at other schools established in the developing city and even at the conservatory. The mandolin orchestra he founded was one of the best in the country.

Hava said that he was a man of culture, he loved the city and its people very much. His family also continued to live in Carmiel. He was an amazing grandfather, according to his daughter’s testimony, to her three children and even got to hug two granddaughters. After retiring, he continued to be a social activist and headed the Hungarian Expatriate Club in the city.

About a year ago he suffered a serious incident and almost died. After undergoing resuscitation and his life was saved, he needed medical supervision and last April he moved to the Brat nursing home in Carmiel. There were several eruptions of Corona on the spot. “When he went to the hospital he felt fine and we were sure that at the end of the test he would return. He was positive even though he had almost no symptoms, but at the hospital he was also infected with the bacterium. Eventually he died there,” the daughter said.

In Carmiel, they regretted today that they did not manage to give Sachi the title “Dear City”. Because of the corona it was not possible to hold the ceremony this year. A few weeks ago, another resident died, Liki Avraham, who was also supposed to receive the degree.

Morris Malul The 73-year-old, a resident of Nahariya, died of corona a few months ago. His daughter Michal said that her father was a man of giving all his life. “My father was my heart, in the full sense of the word. He was more active than me, volunteering and helping – all heart. Unfortunately he was infected at a hospital. The parents went to do a blood test at the hospital in Nahariya, and there they became infected,” said the daughter.

“My two sisters also got infected later on. We were all in solitary confinement, and my parents went into a motel at the Carlton Hotel. After five days in a motel, my dad went to pray at the synagogue at the hotel and just collapsed. They called him an ambulance. They started treating him in the Corona ward in Nahariya. “He was resuscitated and later died,” Michal said.

Morris immigrated to Israel from Morocco in 1963 and according to his daughter was a great Zionist, “full of grace and humor.” He served in Unit 8200 as a wireless and “Arabist” for many years, and is considered one of the first wireless in the Northern District. After retiring he volunteered. Among other things, he volunteered at Shalam, the National Insurance Association for Aid for the Elderly, and at a team of veterans. “All his life he was full of giving and volunteering, he saw volunteering as a sacred work. He did all his volunteer activities quietly and modestly, which characterized him very much, “said Michal.

She added that her father was one of the first to be vaccinated against the flu each year. “Until everyone is vaccinated, everything has to be shut down. Like Yom Kippur. With all the data and contagious, every second person we see on the street can be a corona patient,” she said. “I help and work in the education system and be careful and kept as much as I can. But there is no total observance of the rules. I send my children to frameworks because I have to work. I hope it ends, but it seems like it does not leave us.” Morris is survived by four daughters and nine grandchildren.

She passed away last week Ronit Rosenstein, A 60-year-old resident of Karmiel. She is the youngest resident of the city to die from the virus. In the weeks leading up to her death, she was hospitalized at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Because she felt well, she was the living spirit in the corona ward, and even helped other patients. In her last days, her condition deteriorated rapidly, but a few hours before her death, she was still in contact with family members.

“I knew Ronit when she was 19,” said her husband Moshe. “She is originally from Moshav Sdei Hemed. We got married two years later and moved to Carmiel.” For years, Ronit, who has a degree in sociology and education, was a community worker in the municipality’s welfare department. She worked in a community center and in the absorption of Ethiopian immigrants, and her family members testify that she even spoke a little Amharic. She worked for 14 years as a neighborhood worker and cared for single-parent families.

“In her 50s, she returned to study sociology and education at the university,” Moshe said, “and after that she started volunteering. She volunteered for the Push organization, which helps children from difficult families and recruits retired teachers or students to teach them for free. She ran to fetch and return students and teachers to their homes. There was a match between the students and the teachers. “

The couple have three children and six years ago they first became grandparents. “Since the grandchildren were born she has been the happiest person. She has been a busy grandmother 100% of the time. If the children are sick, if they were on vacation, they were with us all the time. She would organize summer camps for the grandchildren. For them everything.” In March, with the start of the first closure, the relationship was maintained from a distance, but later another grandson, Peg, was born, and the grandmother enlisted again for the full-time position.

The corona hit the family in mid-December, after a guest who arrived on the weekend and did not know he was infected, infected Moshe. At first only the husband was positive for the disease, and Ronit was negative. “At some point she began to suffer from gallbladder pain. She was taken to the hospital, where she was examined once more and this time was diagnosed as positive,” Moshe described.

“The gallbladder pain passed after a few days, and she did not have any more corona symptoms. So inside the corona ward she started talking and treating people herself. I told her ‘rest,’ but she was ripe. ‘Bring lemons,’ ‘bring 60 bottles of water,’ “Bring shampoo for people here.” And all the instructions on the phone, because they did not let us in. In all 21 days she was there, they did not let us in and see her. White was only allowed to see and talk to her on the intercom from the control room, “Moshe said.

“All her life she was willing to contribute to others. She volunteered to talk to barren seniors, in the Second Lebanon War, when missiles fell here, she would wear a helmet and a helmet and wanted to be with people. From the disease she became weaker, but still made plans, that after she recovers she will return to the hospital because she has already gone through it, and she will have antibodies. She wanted to make people happy who would stay hospitalized, “he added.

Because of the gallbladder problems, the family came to the hospital with special food every day. On her last day, Ronit talked to Moshe and thanked him for the delicious food, but that afternoon she could no longer talk. “By about 5:00 PM, she had already written to me because she could not speak. She said it was difficult for her to breathe. At 7:20 PM, the doctor called and said she was being resuscitated, and less than an hour later we were already called to come to the hospital,” he said.

“It is very important for me to make it clear to people that it is not the flu, it is something completely different, it is a serious illness, a roller coaster that ends in a very rapid deterioration. People are there alone and cannot be reached, and the doctors do not yet know how to deal with it. About her condition, “Moshe said. “We need to warn, because the public does not know how to be careful. Who would think like that about Ronit? That such a thing would happen to her?”

Beautiful firecracker Died last month at the age of 64 and left a husband, four children and seven grandchildren. Her family said she spent most of her life working as a special education assistant. It was important to her to help the children and she really loved her job. She kept in touch with the students and continued to accompany them even after they finished school.

“She always accepted everyone, no matter what origin, what religion, what inclination,” said her daughter Tehila. “She was always helpful, there was a man with a huge heart, a very special woman that everyone who met her immediately connected with.”

Yaffa really loved to travel in Israel and abroad, she loved blossoms, to visit the tombs of the righteous and every year she went to the “South Red” festival. “She had golden hands, she loved to create and cook. Everything she touched came out perfect. “Everyone who knew her always said that a beautiful firecracker does everything better,” the daughter added.

She said, “She went through a difficult life as a child as a new immigrant, but still very much loved life and the Land of Israel. She loved my father very much, they went through everything together, she was a real lioness, but in the end a lioness also needs to rest. We were sure she would leave from this”.

Tehila added that “My father was infected in the synagogue, probably on Yom Kippur. Mother and we were infected by him. When he fell ill we were very afraid that she would be infected. She was hospitalized in the Corona ward in Soroka, a week later I came with my husband and children to visit her. She was very happy not to see us. “Two and a half weeks. The next day we were called to tell that they had put her to sleep. For two months she was anesthetized and breathing. After two months she passed away.”

Yaffa’s daughter said that “I have come across many people who underestimate the virus or even say that there is no such thing as a corona. It is important for me to say that there is such a thing, and you should keep your loved ones on guard, especially those who are usually ill. You must obey instructions. We need to be careful to protect our loved ones. “

She said, “The most painful thing is that in this disease it is impossible to separate properly. Two months no one saw her and she did not see anyone before she died. We were always cohesive and did not leave the parents, even when they were hospitalized in the past, we were always close to them and slept next to them in hospital. But here we could not do it. “