Seven-year-old car crash survivor to be released from hospital Thursday
Uncle of Rachel Attias says she is being surrounded by love and care
Aaron Kalman is a former writer and breaking news editor for the Times of Israel
Following the burial of her parents and six siblings Tuesday night, doctors prepared Wednesday to release Rachel Attias into the care of her aunt and uncle on Thursday. The girl’s uncle said the family keeps reminding her that her parents are guarding her from above.
The family “still doesn’t fully grasp the situation,” Kobi Attias, Rachel’s uncle, told Army Radio. “We’re trying to hold on to life, to the values her parents believed in,” he said.
Rachel’s parents and six siblings died in a car crash on Tuesday. The seven-year-old girl was the sole survivor of the accident, and is the only remaining member of her immediate family.
When asked about how people cope with such loss, Rachel’s uncle, her father’s brother, said it takes faith. “Even though we don’t think we prepare for the worst, it turns out we do,” he noted, saying his brother and wife lived according to important values, such as charity and loving their fellow human beings.
“She remembers the love she felt in the car as they said ‘Shema Israel'” — the prayer observant Jews recite when facing death.
Describing the hospital room where Rachel is being treated, her uncle said she was surrounded by love. He acknowledged that she probably doesn’t understand the long-term implications of what happened, but explained that, right now, caring for her was the family’s top priority.
Amos Etzioni, the director of the children’s department at Rambam hospital in Haifa, told Army Radio that Rachel was doing well. “Physically speaking she’s fine,” he said. “Her family is with her and she is surrounded by love and affection.”
On Tuesday, Transportation Ministry Director General Uzi Yitzhaki appointed a special committee to investigate possible negligence that may have led to the crash.
Authorities believe the high speed of the car — which was traveling some 80 miles per hour when it veered off the road near Tiberias — was a result of a brake failurerather than an error on the part of the driver.
Authorities believe that Attias lost control of the car after the brakes malfunctioned, and that the wheels caught fire when the car hit the highway’s concrete median. The car flipped over the barrier into oncoming traffic, broke through a guardrail, and plummeted off a cliff.
