10-year-old dies of injuries from fall on Negev hike
Family to donate Elai Nir’s organs after accident; he will be buried next to father, who died trying to save him
A ten-year-old boy who fell from a cliff during a hike in southern Israel on Friday, and whose father died while trying to save him, has succumbed to his injuries.
Staff at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba said Sunday that the boy, Elai Nir, died from serious head injuries and organ damage after falling from a ladder as he scaled a rock face in Nahal Tze’elim in the Negev.
A team of doctors had tried to save the boy’s life but his condition continued to worsen on Saturday and he suffered irreversible brain damage, the hospital said. Doctors said he died on Sunday afternoon.
The family said they will donate his organs.
His father, university lecturer Dr. Omri Nir, dived after his son as he saw him tumble, managing to shield him as the two plunged down the side of the cliff. The elder Nir died of the injuries he sustained during the fall.
Nir, an expert in Lebanese history and politics from Moshav Kfar Vitkin in central Israel, lectured at Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Omri Nir and his son will be buried side by side on Monday in Kfar Vitkin, according to the Walla news website.
The Nature and Parks Authority conducted an internal assessment on Sunday, Haaretz news site reported. It said that the trail was examined on Friday and everything was found to be in order. The authority said thousands of people hike the trail every year and it is marked as being for experienced hikers. The authority found that the accident was a result of human error.
The Times of Israel Community.