Israeli paramedic Dr. Gal Rosen delivered a baby during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, showcasing resilience and compassion amid the chaos of war.
In a remarkable display of courage and dedication, Israeli paramedic Dr. Gal Rosen delivered a baby in Tel Aviv and then rushed to a bomb shelter with the newborn as Iron Dome missile sirens blared overhead.
Dr. Rosen, who has spent years saving lives under the constant threat of missile attacks, embodies the spirit of resilience. He recalls racing from emergency to emergency, heart pounding yet calm under fire, adhering to a mantra of “don’t think, just act.” Having lost his mother to a terrorist attack as a child, he has devoted his life to helping others, serving as a paramedic both in the military and now as a civilian with Magen David Adom (MDA) in Tel Aviv. Despite the dangers, he chooses to live and work in Israel, confronting the realities of multiple-front wars daily.
“We need to choose sometimes,” he said in an interview with Fox News Digital during a rare moment of respite. “And this is hard.”
Last Thursday, Dr. Rosen experienced a moment of light amid the darkness of war when he delivered a healthy baby boy. Just moments after the delivery, the threat of a missile attack loomed, prompting him to carry the newborn away from the mother in the ambulance as he and the father hurried to reach a bomb shelter. This was his fifth emergency delivery as a paramedic, but the first conducted under the threat of missile fire.
“It was such a surreal situation,” he reflected a week later, able to smile at the gravity of the experience after finally finding time to rest. “This is an amazing thing to share at home.”
Dr. Rosen typically refrains from sharing the more harrowing aspects of his job with his family, preferring to shield them from the horrors of war. “Most of my stories are not like this,” he explained. “Most of our stories I share are really hard things for my family to hear.”
Just two days after the joyous delivery, however, he faced the stark reality of his profession, witnessing five deaths during his shift. “I don’t want to get home and tell about it to my family,” he said. “But this story is amazing.”
The call for assistance came around 6:30 a.m. local time. A woman was in labor, and Dr. Rosen and his team arrived to find the husband helping his wife through the final moments of delivery. Dr. Rosen stepped in to assist, safely delivering the baby boy.
Moments later, the missile alert sounded, and Dr. Rosen had to balance the urgency of a wartime emergency with the delicate process of childbirth. He quickly placed the newborn on the mother’s chest for skin-to-skin contact, an essential step for bonding and early development. After the father cut the umbilical cord, Dr. Rosen helped the mother nurse the baby for the first time, striving to maintain a sense of normalcy amid the chaos.
“I tried to do something as close as possible to reality for them,” he said, emphasizing the importance of preserving the intimacy of the moment despite the circumstances.
With the family now needing to move to safety, Dr. Rosen and the father rushed to a nearby bomb shelter. As they navigated the chaos, relatives from the apartment building gathered to meet the newborn for the first time, all while the alarms continued to sound.
“Adrenaline” and his training as a former army paramedic kicked in. “I put on my helmet and vest, took the baby, and ran with the father to a public shelter,” he recalled. “There were about 50 people there, and they closed the door behind us.”
Inside the shelter, the unmistakable sounds of war echoed as the Iron Dome intercepted missiles overhead. “We heard the interception with the Iron Dome,” Dr. Rosen described. “The sound was impossible to ignore—a boom followed by a shock wave you could feel.”
The grateful parents, identified by MDA as Nikola and Violet, expressed their appreciation for the emergency team’s support during the frightening experience. “It wasn’t a simple experience,” they stated in a joint message, opting to maintain their privacy while allowing Dr. Rosen to share their story. “We’re happy everything ended safely, and we’re grateful to the team who helped us so much.”
In the cramped shelter, surrounded by strangers and the threat of missile attacks, the atmosphere shifted as people congratulated the new parents, shouting “Mazal tov!”
After about ten minutes in the shelter, the family emerged into the street with their newborn, now 30 minutes old. Dr. Rosen ensured the mother was protected, placing a helmet and vest on her before escorting them back to the ambulance.
“In these moments, I didn’t think so much. I just acted,” he said, emphasizing the instinctive nature of his response. “I realized that it would be better to protect the son and find a shelter.”
Despite the ongoing threat, the excitement of the day lingered. “I was so excited I couldn’t sleep for—like the delivery, it was something like 17 hours into my shift,” he recalled. “Now, after 17 hours, I went back home, tried to sleep, but I couldn’t.”
Dr. Rosen’s commitment to his work and the families he serves remains unwavering, even in the face of adversity. “My mother was murdered in a terror attack when I was a child,” he said. “To choose to still be here with my family, to live here: This is our home.”
As he continues to navigate the challenges of his profession, Dr. Rosen remains dedicated to saving lives and providing hope, even amid the darkest times. “This is the mentality of Israelis in general,” he concluded. “I will do my best to help other families going through these situations.”
Dr. Gal Rosen’s story is a testament to the resilience and compassion of those who serve on the front lines, reminding us of the light that can emerge even in the most challenging circumstances, according to Fox News.