Amit Man, 22, an on-call MDA paramedic and Magen David Adom's youngest instructor, lived in Kibbutz Be'eri. Pola Blick, a volunteer paramedic, chose Amit as her hero.
Amit was brave in everything she did. At the age of 14, she went to the library, took out medical books, neglected her regular studies, but in the end graduated with honors.
Amit loved being a paramedic. It was her whole life. On Friday, October 6, she spent time with friends, and slept in the kibbutz that night. She woke up to a barrage of rockets and red alerts. Her partner, also a paramedic, went on duty at the Netivot station. When he heard that the shooting was unusual, he told Amit to go with him because it was dangerous to stay in Be'eri. Amit said that precisely because it was dangerous, she was staying.
She texted her family that she was in the safe room, but when she realized that there were wounded, dead, and a terrorist infiltration, she took her medical bag and ran to the dental clinic, which was designated as an emergency gathering place. In the recordings that MDA played to the family, when she called to report the dead and wounded, they heard her running, panting, and describing the situation while giving instructions to everyone about what to do. She arrived at the clinic at 7 a.m. A doctor and two members of the emergency room who were protecting the clinic were murdered, except the kibbutz nurse and two wounded.
Amit heard gunshots and was in contact with her family while treating the wounded. MDA told her that the area was a war zone and ambulances couldn’t enter. Even though her life was in danger, she kept calm and spoke professionally. A severely wounded survivor said that Amit took care of him for hours. When she realized it was over, she texted her family to be strong.
At 1:50 p.m. her ammunition ran out. She texted that she heard the terrorists coming back, and she didn't think she’d survive. A few minutes later, she sent an audio message that the terrorists had entered the clinic. Her sister called her. Amit answered and said that they shot her in the leg and killed everyone else.
At 2:15 p.m., when the soldiers entered the clinic, they found Amit's body with a tourniquet on her left leg, and a gunshot wound in the head.
Amit's family plans to perpetuate Amit's memory so that no one will forget her and will remember the good she did in the very short life she had.
One of Amit's loves was music. She had an amazing voice and used to take pictures of herself singing. Music also calmed her down. When she would return home from work amd wanted to forget the sights she had seen, she would go into her room and sing.
On her Hebrew birthday, her family organized a birthday party in her memory at the arts hall in Netivot. All the singers and bands whose songs Amit sang were invited, and they wholeheartedly performed their songs on stage in her honor.
Recently, a Torah ceremony was held at the synagogue in Be’eri. The soldiers read it for three months while they were there. The family then transferred the Torah scroll to Netivot.
Across the country, over 10 defibrillators were placed in various places that were significant to Amit.
In another tribute to Amit, Samaritan's Purse replaced for MDA 14 ambulances that jad been burnt and damaged bu Hamas on October 7 as part of their plan to destroy ambulances to prevent aid and rescue. The MDA administration requested to dedicate the ambulances to MDA heroes who were murdered in the war. The ambulance named after Amit will be stationed at the MDA station in Netivot, where she was born and raised, and will continue Amit's life-saving activities together with the medical staff at the station that she loved so much.
The Grafitiyul trio of artists painted graffiti in Tel Aviv of war heroes Amit Man, Aner Shapira, Awad Darawshe, and Ben Shimoni.
Said Grafitiyul founder Elinoy Kisslove: "When the war started and so many events happened, many heroes were discovered, and we realized that in a moment there would be another event, another piece of news, and everything would be forgotten. So we decided to make graffiti and attach significant stories on the wall. After realizing that there is enough anger and disappointment, we specifically chose stories that give hope and inspiration.”
This article is taken from The Jerusalem Post, 'Women - Heroines of Swords of Iron' Magazine 2024. To read the entire magazine, click here.