Twenty-two-year-old Dvir is a combat medic from the Nahal Brigade, who lives with his family in Gush Etzion. During the first days of the war against Hamas, he was hit in his leg by shrapnel from a mortar shell in his leg. Despite the injury, while tying a tourniquet to himself, he continued to help everyone around him and even managed to deliver medical equipment to his wounded comrades as the bullets whistled overhead.
NASA and Israel work hand-in-hand
Prof. Isabella Schwartz, director of the hospital’s rehabilitation department, explained that the device – the first of its kind and only one in Jerusalem, was imported from the US. “It allows the staff amazing therapeutic options. Dvir steps a little and floats with air flowing from below, allowing him to step on his leg in an incomplete, measured and supervised manner almost immediately after surgery. His progress in rehabilitation is much faster than what we have known so far.”
The device first used at NASA was bought for Hadassah-Mount Scopus with a donation from Hadassah International-Israel. “This technology definitely proves itself in the rehabilitation of various types of injuries and wounds that limit or prevent walking such as muscle weakness or balance problems,” Schwartz said. She added that sports injuries can also be rehabilitated with anti-gravity and that the players of the Real Madrid soccer team, as well as top-class tennis players use it.
