Aharon Alexander Goncharov, the 25-year-old yeshiva student who had been in a coma in an Israeli hospital after he was attacked in Kiev on the second night of Passover, defied all odds and regained consciousness last week.
Kiev Assault Victim Regains Consciousness
Aharon Alexander Goncharov, the 25-year-old yeshiva student who had been in a coma in an Israeli hospital after he was attacked in Kiev on the second night of Passover, defied all odds and regained consciousness last week.
Doctors at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (also known as Ichilov Hospital) had issued a dire prognosis for Goncharov and feared he might remain comatose for the rest of his life. Speaking with Israel Hayom Thursday, Goncharov thanked his many well-wishers and the efforts they took to see his condition improve. “I got my life back only because you all prayed for me,” he said.
Goncharov was attacked near his synagogue on April 7, shortly after concluding the second Passover Seder. He was found unconscious the next day at 7:00 a.m. (Kiev time) by passersby who called a local emergency service.
The Jewish community in Kiev and ZAKA (an Israeli emergency and disaster relief organization) arranged to have Goncharov, who was in critical condition, flown to Israel shortly after the incident. He remained on life-support and in an induced coma until Wednesday. Having undergone about two weeks of treatment, which included surgery, doctors successfully revived him.
Goncharov, who is still experiencing intense pain owing to his injuries, has had plenty of company at the hospital, despite being far from his home. Among those who have been at his bedside were Alexander Lukatzky, the Israeli representative of Ukraine’s chief rabbi, and ZAKA officials, including organization head Yehuda Meshi-Zahav.
One of the leading figures in Kiev’s Jewish community, Yaakov Zilberman, who also paid a visit to the hospital on Thursday, said he had flown all the way to Israel “to bear witness with my own eyes to this fantastic miracle; even the medical team here has started using terminology befitting a resurrection of the dead.”
Prof. Itzhak Shapira, who heads Sourasky’s Rehabilitation Hospital said “this is indeed a miracle.”
“No stone should be left unturned in hunting down my attackers and in punishing them. I wouldn’t want any other Jew to have to go through what I am going through,” Goncharov said as he began to recuperate. Despite the pain, he put on a smile when asked if he plans to return to Kiev. “I am not afraid; why should I be? And I also have no plans to take off my kippah once I return.”
Goncharov said he recalled being hit with glass bottles on his head with massive force before losing consciousness. “They just continued hitting over and over again, and all the while I kept hearing them yell ‘Zhid’ [Jew]. I was shocked at just how evil people can be.”
Goncharov, whose family still remains in Kiev, says he spoke with his mother on Wednesday. Smiling, he added that his mother could barely contain herself. “I spoke with my mother via Skype yesterday, and she could not believe I had woken up; everyone had told her I had no chance of surviving. Now I just dream of completing my recovery and seeing her so that I can get a huge hug as compensation for what I endured.”
question
yeshiva student? where is his beard and yarmulka?
nice one
Looks like a Yarmulke on his head and i see a little beard. Leave the guy alone after everything hes been through. Maybe for medical reasons you can’t see and who are you to judge anyway. He should continue to have a refuah. Maybe because hes young he has not so much a beard.
SAM11
Dumb question
to #1 and this website
some really dumb and potentially hurtful comments should not be written/posted
cnl
To #1 what planet are you on?????
Alaxander
I think I know him.
Is he from Karkov?
from the FSU
Talmidim of all levels are welcome in most, if not all, of our Chabad yeshivos in the FSU, which are more on the model of Hadar haTorah or Morristown than on OT Zal. I think there are only one or two yeshivos, probably in Moscow, that are really meant for bochurim who went through whatever system there may be in different parts of the FSU.
This particular bochur came from a small town where there is no yeshiva and no room for him to grow. His head is clearly covered; part of his beard was probably shaven to allow for staples or stitches. He should have a refuah shelema, and whoever is behind this assault should have a missa meshune after much suffering (as in yenne machle is too good for them).
just wondering....
Do we still need to say tehillim for him?
WHO-S SICK?
number 1. YOU need YOUR head examined. The guy is lucky to be alive and all you can think of is to find a critisizm. YOU ARE SICKER THAN HIM BY FAR!!!! I wish you a very big REFUAH SHLAIMA for your twisted hateful brain (and heart)