SURFSIDE, Fla. – A physician assistant went to Israel on vacation, but when war broke out over the weekend, things changed drastically. Instead of fleeing the country, she stayed behind to volunteer at a Tel Aviv hospital, helping to treat patients.
Michele Freund now lives and works in New York, but she grew up in Bal Harbour.
She spoke to Local 10 News via video call on Thursday.
“It’s overwhelming, the fear and the pain and the heartbreak,” Freund said of the ongoing war. “Seeing a woman obviously, you know, intubated with injuries from a rocket is extremely difficult to see.”
She shared the story of a doctor she’s working with in the hospital.
“Today, one of the doctors who worked here who is typically on our unit got called up for reserves (in the Israel Defense Forces) and he’s somewhere in South today,” Freund said. “He actually came back, because I guess he needed to do something here. And just the way that everybody just welcomed him.”
Freund’s grandparents were Holocaust survivors who found their home in Israel. Her grandmother was a nurse in the very same hospital she is in now.
“It has been a dream of mine to work here, because I know that’s where she worked. So it’s pretty emotional for me,” she said. “You know, she’s not with us today. But I know she’s looking down on me and is proud that I’m here.”
Freund said she wanted to stay in Israel not only to help people, but also to add light to a war filled with darkness.
“It was important for me to talk about this, because in the midst of a lot of darkness, there is a lot of light,” she said. “I’m one person that decided to volunteer, but I can tell you that every single person in this country that is not in active combat is doing whatever they can to support those who are on the frontline.”