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Terror survivor’s amazing story: Attack may have saved her life

Shira Sabag left the hospital after a nine-month recovery following her injuries at the Givat Assaf attack and the chance discovery of a growth on her brain.

By World Israel News Staff

Shira Sabag has gone through hell.

The 20-year-old was seriously wounded in the Givat Assaf Junction attack on December 13, 2018. She’s only now getting out of the hospital.

Recovery is a long process for all seriously injured terror victims. What makes Shira’s case unusual is that during the course of recovery she received more bad news. Doctors at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem found a growth in her brain.

Dr. Nebo Margolit, head of Neurocardiology at Shaare Zedek, told Israel’s Channel 13 news that doing an overall check of the patient is standard practice. During a CT scan they found the growth “by accident,” he said.

“They said, listen we found something. We don’t know what it is,” Shira said.

Doctors determined that the four-centimeter growth was expanding. They arranged for an immediate operation, telling her they couldn’t wait until she was completely healed from the accident, Channel 13 reports.

“It could have caused problems in the future and we caught it beforehand,” Dr. Margolit said.

The doctors and her parents believe the discovery of the growth saved her life.

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The attack

Shira was standing at the Givat Assaf junction on the way home to her nearby town of Beit El in the Binyamin region of Samaria when the terrorist struck.

“A blue car came up and went a little past the bus station,” Shira told Channel 13 news, which reported her story on September 4. A terrorist jumped out of the blue car and started firing in every direction.

Two IDF soldiers were killed in the attack and a civilian was seriously wounded.

“I heard booms, very, very… strong,” Shira said. The terrorist “stood opposite me in a straight line and the soldiers stood between us. He drops the soldiers first. I see them fall. I understand that apparently they’re not alive. And then I understand that I also apparently will not live.”

“Then he hit me. I received a bullet in the pelvis and the knee. I fell on the ground. I’m sure I’m going to die. I said the Shema [prayer before death].”

She was rushed to the hospital in very serious condition, fighting for her life, Channel 13 reports.

“What goes through your mind? It’s the last moments of life. Everything’s extinguished suddenly. It’s an experience that before and after isn’t the same,” she said.

On her way out of the hospital, she met the man who evacuated her at Givat Assaf junction, now a nursing student.