Parents of baby killed in car-ramming attack welcome second child

In a striking coincidence, the paramedic dispatched to the scene of a Jerusalem terror attack in which 3-month-old baby Chaya Zissel Braun was killed last year, delivered the bereaved couple’s second child Sunday night.

Ten months ago, Arab-Israeli Magen David Adom paramedic Ziad Dawiyat was on duty when a Palestinian man drove his car into a crowd waiting at a Jerusalem light rail station, killing an Ecuadorian tourist as well as Hanna and Shmuel Braun’s baby. Dawiyat transported the critically injured Braun to the hospital in his ambulance.

On Sunday, when Hannah Braun went into labor with the couple’s second child, her husband Shmuel called an ambulance, and Dawiyat, a senior MDA paramedic, and his team were dispatched to the ultra-Orthodox couple’s Jerusalem home.

When they arrived, Dawiyat said Hannah’s labor had progressed too far for her to be moved to a hospital, and he and his team delivered the baby girl at the Braun’s apartment.

It wasn’t until after the delivery that Dawiyat said a “shocked” Hannah recognized him.

“She thanked me, and while I was preparing to giver her an IV, the husband hugged and kissed me — it was very emotional,” Dawiyat said, according to a statement put out by MDA on Monday.

“I didn’t know what to do or say — to wish them congratulations or give them my condolences,” Dawiyat said. “I was very moved so I just wished them a ‘mazal tov’ and a long and peaceful life.”

Chaya Zissel Braun, a 3-month-old baby killed in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem on October 22, 2014 (Channel 2 Screenshot)

“I would have never imagined even in my dreams that I would be able to come full circle with the Brauns, but it’s a small world,” he added.

Dawiyat said the Brauns invited him to their home, and said they planned to keep in touch.

“We thank the Almighty for everything and for giving us a daughter today. I want to thank Ziad and the entire MDA staff who prove time and again they are available to save lives and assist anyone in need,” an emotional Shmuel said after the delivery.

Hannah and the newborn were taken to Jerusalem’s Bikur Holim hospital.

Last October, Chaya Zissel and her parents were returning from the baby’s first trip to the Western Wall when a car driven by Silwan resident Abdelrahman al-Shaludi plowed into pedestrians waiting at the at the Ammunition Hill rail station.

Chaya Zissel was thrown from her stroller, and landed on the pavement. Dawiyat and the other paramedics responding to the scene were able to resuscitate her at the scene, but she died two hours later at the Hadassah-Mount Scopus Hospital. Karen Yemima Muscara, 22, was killed in the attack as well. Eight others were injured.

Family members in October told reporters that the Braun couple struggled for years to conceive a child before Chaya Zissel was born.