Injured father of boys killed in Jerusalem terror ramming wakes up from coma
Avraham Paley is awake and ‘communicating with his surroundings’ more than 2 weeks after attack, according to director of hospital’s ICU
The father of two boys killed in a Palestinian terror attack in Jerusalem earlier this month is awake and communicating after being wounded in the same attack, according to the hospital where he is being treated.
Hadassah Medical Center said Monday that the health of Avraham Paley, who was wounded in the car-ramming attack that killed two of his children in Jerusalem more than two weeks ago, is improving.
According to Dr. Vernon Van Heerden, director of the hospital’s intensive care unit, Paley has awoken after more than two weeks of being in a coma, and is “communicating with his surroundings.” The hospital said Paley underwent more than one surgery to deal with his injuries from the attack.
The hospital says that Paley is still in serious condition, and it is unclear if he has been informed about the deaths of two of his children.
The two children, Yaakov Yisrael Paley, 5, and his brother, Asher Menahem Paley, 7, were killed by a terrorist who drove a car into the bus stop where they were waiting, in the Ramot neighborhood. Another man, Alter Shlomo Lederman, a 20-year-old yeshiva student who was recently married, was also killed.
The terrorist, identified as Hussein Qaraqa, was shot dead at the scene of the attack.
Eyewitnesses to Friday’s attack said Qaraqa accelerated into a group of Israelis waiting at a bus stop. A senior Israeli official said it was believed he was mentally ill, and that he had been released from a psychiatric hospital in northern Israel only days before.
Avraham’s pregnant wife, Devorah, said her sons were “happy children, good children who loved to help,” during interviews by media outlets earlier this month.
She told the Ynet news site that the two boys and their father had been on their way to a family celebration and were planning to travel by bus, as there was not enough room in the family car for all of them. An older brother was also with them. Her husband, Avraham, had taken the three to the nearby stop at Ramot Junction so that the three boys could catch a bus together.
Yaakov Yisrael was confirmed dead at the scene, and his older brother, Asher Menahem, was critically injured and succumbed to his wounds the next day.
