{"id":4351,"date":"2017-12-13T14:24:26","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T19:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/?p=4351"},"modified":"2017-12-13T14:24:26","modified_gmt":"2017-12-13T19:24:26","slug":"when-life-explodes-and-catapults-you-into-the-world-of-hospitals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/when-life-explodes-and-catapults-you-into-the-world-of-hospitals\/","title":{"rendered":"When Life Explodes and Catapults You into the World of Hospitals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"pr<\/a>
The World of Hospitals<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Life proceeds normally. Tuesday is similar to Monday and Wednesday follows in its wake. Then suddenly, without any warning, life explodes. A fifteen-year-old is crossing the street, something he has been doing since he was a youngster under the watchful eyes of his nervous mother. Now at fifteen, his mother no longer worried about his crossing. She knew he was careful and responsible. What she didn\u2019t know about was the van that came hurtling down the street, against the light, hitting her son with full force causing his head to strike the asphalt until he lost consciousness. And life was no longer normal. The tiny hospital<\/strong> room becomes your world. Nothing else matters. <\/p>\n

The worries were endless. Would he survive? Would he be permanently brain injured? Clutching a t\u2019hillim (Psalm book) and begging Hashem(G-d) to have mercy, his parents didn\u2019t leave his side.\u00a0 One left. The other arrived. Day after endless day. Nothing else was real. Only teh beeping monitors at their son’s hospital<\/strong> bedside.\u00a0 The eight children at home were hardly on their radar screen.\u00a0 The parents were barely aware that Shimmy* had a test scheduled next week and needed help studying, that Mimi* was having a hard time taking Mommy\u2019s place and her terrified younger siblings were acting wild and not listening to her. Her parents hardly knew but Ezer Mizion did. Volunteers were dispatched from many rosters- some to provide hot, nourishing meals for the parents at the hospital<\/strong>, some to provide those same meals for the rest of the family at home, some to handle those hectic evening hours, some to do homework with the kids. The parents did not own a car. Ezer Mizion\u2019s Linked to Life\u00a0 division was contacted regarding rides to and from the hospital<\/strong> for them.<\/p>\n

\"cell-phone\"<\/a>
Ride to hospital needed for cancer patient. Who is available?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Who is Linked to Life? Just people. People like you and me. Mostly middle-class working people who have joined this famed WhatsApp group. Their phone beeps and they quickly check the request. Can they fit it into their day? In most cases, someone responds. It may be driving a patient or a family member to the hospital<\/strong>. Or delivering vital medical equipment or medication. Or perhaps providing something to lift the spirits of a family undergoing a crisis. Over 3,000 such trips are made every month. Each group, divided by areas, becomes a family. Lets take a peek at an pre-Shabbat posting:<\/p>\n