Court: Wounded 4-year-old to remain hospitalized
Rock attack victim Adele Bitton can stay for at least a month to allow family to make home accessible, judge rules
Marissa Newman is The Times of Israel political correspondent.
A Kfar Saba court denied a request from the Loewenstein Hospital Rehabilitation Center Thursday to enforce a decision to discharge a girl who was wounded when Palestinians threw rocks at her family’s car in the West Bank last year.
Four-year-old Adele Bitton will remain hospitalized for at least another month until the May hearing that will reevaluate the case, in light of continued efforts to equip the Bitton home to meet the girl’s medical needs.
“I told the judge that we are not interested in staying there, [though] we greatly appreciate this place,” Adva Bitton, the girl’s mother, told Channel 2. “This is not a five-star hotel. We want her home, but there are issues of improving accessibility equipment, and therapists — the house must be prepared. The judge understood this.”
The decision followed a written notice by the hospital to Adva on Tuesday, asking her to remove her daughter from the hospital within 24 hours and threatening legal action.
Adele was seriously injured in a stone-throwing attack in the West Bank in March 2013, and has been largely unresponsive since. However, her mother said that her condition has seen some recent improvement and hopes that by the hearing date, her daughter will wake up.
Adva Bitton responded furiously to the written notice on Tuesday, and said that since she had not been confronted in person by administrators, she had no intention of removing her daughter.
“Ariel Sharon lay in Tel Hashomer [hospital] for eight years, in a coma and on a respirator, with no improvement in his condition, and I paid for it,” she said. “[Here is] a four-year-old girl who is showing signs of life — give her a five-month grace period.”
A statement from the hospital maintained that Adele had received the best care available, and that the family had received ample time to prepare for her release. After the original scheduled date of her discharge, the hospital agreed to keep her for over a month, it said.
“Unfortunately, we cannot delay the release any longer. It is important to note that Adele’s medical treatment has concluded and there is no justification for her continued hospitalization.”
