"Doctors Didn't Believe I Could Move Again. I Am a Walking Miracle"

The moment Rami Asher found himself sprawled on the ground next to the electric scooter, unable to move his arms and legs, was one of the scariest in his life. It happened during the Sukkot holiday last year. Rami just wanted to keep his promise and take his children on an electric scooter trip. "I have twin daughters who were 11 at the time and an older son. Since girls of my daughters' age can't ride an electric scooter alone, my eldest son rode with one daughter, while I took the other," he explains.

They were traveling on the bike path in the boardwalk of El'ad, just minutes from their home. "It wasn't an extreme activity, just a simple ride," he emphasizes. But no one could have predicted how it would end or what would happen next.

Praying for Miracles

"I still don't know how it happened," says Rami, "but suddenly the scooter stopped, I was thrown to the left and my daughter to the right. I was wearing a helmet, but feared a head injury, so I probably made a wrong move when I lifted my head upward, causing my spine to take the brunt of the impact."

The immediate outcome was surprising but then terrifying. "I expected severe pain, but I felt none," Rami recounts, "Suddenly I lost sensation in my arms and legs. I tried to move my hand to get my phone from my pocket and couldn't. It was very alarming. I lay on my stomach, head up, trying repeatedly to rise but unable to. I shouted to my son to get the phone from my pocket and call the emergency services, while also wondering what trauma my daughters were experiencing as they watched."

Things moved quickly from that moment. Rami was taken by ambulance with his wife joining, rushing him to the hospital. "It was Friday afternoon during Sukkot," Rami notes, "Needless to say the stress and helplessness we felt, with our six children left alone at home, and my wife and I realizing the situation was serious."

Were you conscious during the evacuation?

"Throughout the ambulance ride, I was conscious, continuously asking about my daughter's well-being. It was my main concern; I was fearful for her too. Everyone reassured me she was fine. I remained conscious upon arriving at the hospital, but during the MRI, I told the doctors I felt out of breath, and from that moment they sedated and ventilated me. I underwent complex spinal surgery, where the doctors repaired the damaged vertebrae in my spine but did not promise a full recovery, preparing my wife for my lifelong disability."

Rami was in a sedated, ventilated state in intensive care for three weeks. "It wasn't until the beginning of the month of Cheshvan that I first opened my eyes," he recalls. "I immediately recognized my wife and parents, but I couldn't speak due to the ventilation. Communicating was one of the hardest challenges, as I could only move my lips. My wife strained to understand me, which somehow she did, so did my mother. But everyone else couldn't grasp a word. I could ask the staff ten times: 'Arrange my pillow,' and no one understood."

What went through your mind at that time?

"Initially, many thoughts swirled. Mainly, I didn’t understand why this happened. I just wanted to do something good for my kids, wasn’t taking undue risks or exceeding boundaries. Since it was a self-caused accident, I had no one to blame, and my thoughts constantly revolved around 'Why did this happen to me?' It took time to accept that some life events are divine decrees beyond our understanding."

Miracles in the Ward

A particular day in intensive care marked a turning point, when a speech therapist fitted a special communication device, allowing Rami to speak again. "It was a particularly significant day for me," he notes, "Suddenly I learned to value the simplest actions – I could speak."

The recovery progressed gradually. Rami left intensive care, moved to a regular ward, and later began rehabilitation. Initially, it was respiratory rehabilitation to wean off the ventilator, then neurological rehabilitation to enable him to function as a healthy person. "Eventually, everyone realized, by some miracle, the spinal damage was partial, not full, but no one could predict my final condition. I was wheelchair-bound, uncertain if I would walk again," he painfully describes.

Rehabilitation was demanding and required daily effort and practice. "But there were outcomes," he says with satisfaction. "Contrary to the doctors' predictions, movements started returning to my arms and legs. First the left arm, then the right, and finally the legs. Although their function remains quite limited and I am still in a wheelchair, the progress surpasses all expectations, and I am grateful every single day."

You can't help but ask: What kept you strong throughout this difficult period?

"First and foremost, hope and faith in the Creator. I prayed continually, believing everything would eventually be alright. During the entire period, I was blessed by Torah scholars. I received a special blessing from Rabbi David Abuhatzeira, Rabbi Badani blessed me just two weeks before his passing, Rabbi Panger visited and greatly encouraged me, and one day during rehab I met the Lau family rabbis – Chief Rabbi David Lau and his father, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Shlita'. I seized the opportunity to ask for their blessing. They were curious about my story, and upon hearing it, Rabbi Lau the son remarked, 'You did something good for your children, and Hashem will ensure you never suffer loss from it.' Then his father blessed me wholeheartedly, concluding with 'But it requires a lot of patience.'"

"However, the most emotional moment was when I returned home," Rami notes. "While I had met my children during my hospitalization, going back to your own home is different. From that moment, I received tremendous drive and strength to push forward. A few months ago, the community honored me with a major support event for men and women, they recited Psalms, and no eye remained dry. From that moment I witnessed several additional remarkable improvements. By the grace of Hashem, I continue progressing, surprising the doctors, and hoping for a complete and full recovery very soon."

In conclusion, Rami has a request for all those reading: "Learn to appreciate how your arms and legs function, because it's such a privilege that shouldn't be taken for granted. When reciting the blessings of the morning, mean them sincerely and simply thank the Creator."

Please, increase prayers for the healing of Rachamim ben Esther, for a complete and total recovery, among all other sick of Israel.