After losing both his legs in Gaza war, Elisha embarks on journey of pain, purpose and willpower
The father of six will light a torch has been chosen to light at torch at Israel's annual ceremony for Independence Day
They say never meet your heroes, but in the case of Elisha Medan, his story touches everyone he meets. Last month, charity Beit Halochem brought wounded veterans to London for a week of entertainment, to lift their spirits and meet the UK community.
Wheelchair-bound with both legs missing, it’s impossible to ignore Elisha’s stumps, often placing his hands underneath them, you would think out of nervousness or to warm his hands. But as Elisha explains: “I hold my stumps because I have phantom leg pains. I move them to tell my brain, ‘it ends here’.”
With tanned skin and a boyish grin, Elisha belies his 45 years, an observant Jewish father to six children: 17, 15, 13, 11, 8 and 4. Describing life in Israel he says, “I’ve been married to my amazing wife for 18 years – a strong Israeli woman. I did 19 years duty and was always called for reserve duty. I was a navigator – always the first, so you need good sense of direction, learn the maps, walk the mountains. Everyone is carrying heavy stuff, relying on you for the best route.”
His story begins like so many others on the morning of 7 October 2023. “My wife and I were at home and woken early. We live in the south and always hear sirens but this felt different. My second officer called to say ‘Come to base – we have a war’, but then my friend called from his kibbutz [Nir Oz] saying terrorists were trying to get into his wife’s sister’s house. I decide I am going to go and help them instead.”
Whereas most would check with their spouse before heading straight to danger, Elisha had confidence in his wife’s response. “She said ‘go’. I took my private pistol and a friend joined me.
“Driving there was chaos – just dead bodies all over the road. We saw a lot of police and army cars but everyone dead, like an apocalypse. We arrive to Sderot and spot terrorists so we take another street.”
Wearing his army uniform but with no helmet or vest, Elisha reaches a citizen building and tells his friend to wait in the vehicle in case of a speedy escape. “I go inside where a soldier asks me how many we are. I explain it is ‘just us two’ and he gives me a bloodied gun and an address in Sderot to go and stop the terrorists. He has no one else alive to send. When we get there, it’s just dead bodies so we go looking for the terrorists, where we are fighting them and killing them, until my unit arrived to help.”
Despite the intensity of fighting, Elisha remains uninjured, either through sheer luck or years of training. “We felt part of something big, fighting for our brothers and sisters all over the world and our zechut (our privilege) to live in Israel.
“We always felt the great hug that you [the diaspora] give us. After three weeks my commander tells us are going into Gaza. And for two weeks it was like a war movie.”
Having served for many years in the IDF, Elisha’s memory is sharp as a knife, but he explains that the fighting in Gaza seems different, more intense than all his years in service, including the Lebanon war. “We got intel that Hamas are tracking us, so my team decide to try to find them first. We get inside this house but they saw us through a remote camera and pushed the button – suddenly it was a big explosion, like a car accident. I was injured all over, lying with my best friend Yossi next to me, both of us without our legs, trying to breathe. He’s my ‘metal couple’, like my brother since kids – you don’t ever leave your metal couple but after 20 minutes, he died.
“Eventually I was rescued after two hours of digging. There were 10 of us – four killed, six injured, with my injuries probably the most severe. I was in critical condition in the hospital but after much surgery I woke up and see my wife there. And she tells me what happened to my unit. To me. That I lost my legs.”
When Beit Halochem offered its services, Elisha stubbornly refused, but after meeting a fellow veteran things changed for him.
“In the beginning I didn’t want help, but then I met ‘Rosi’ [Roei Rosenberg] and started playing wheelchair basketball and tennis, which I never even played before. The aggressive play is good for my soul and mind.”
Sagi Dovev, a resilience expert working with Elisha says: “With Elisha it feels different. Like he is the one giving me the lesson. Each time I train him I feel like there’s another level to his resilience and he never feels sorry for himself.”
With the ongoing conflict playing out, Elisha remains positive. “I choose to look at the bright side of life with good energy and good spirits. I don’t watch or listen to the news. I just wish to be a good father and husband. I want to do more lectures to inspire people. I got prosthetics fitted and walked well but it’s difficult without knees, so I will have more surgery and physio training and then start again and I will walk.”
Had Elisha decided not to go towards the fighting on 7 October, his outcome could have been a very different one and raises the ‘why me’ question. “I know the answer. I chose to fight. But I feel so lucky that I am alive.”
- Debbie Collins is a freelance journalist
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