Israeli hero runs NYC Marathon for terror victims

His chances of survival were slim. But now almost five years after severe wounds from Operation Cast Lead, Aharon Karov triumphantly crossed the finish line at the New York City Marathon this past Sunday, helping to raise $50,000 for an organization that helped him and other victims of terror and their families.

Aharon Karov was commander of a paratroop brigade and responded to return to duty for Operation Cast Lead in 2009 the day after his wedding. The house the soldiers entered in Gaza was booby trapped and blew up, collapsing on him, embedding more than 500 pieces of shrapnel in his body and severely damaging his brain and face, affecting his motor skills and speech.

Dr. Steven Jackson, a top neurologist at Rabin Hospital was called in. The country and Jewish communities world wide were called upon to pray for Karov. After a 12 hour operation, Jackson comforted Aharon’s wife, saying that he would be the mohel at their son’s brit. Three weeks later, Karov was able to leave the hospital to a rehabilitation center.

Dr. Jackson performed other surgeries for Karov as did other physicians. Now, almost five years later, Karov has regained all his abilities, is a student at Ariel University and he and his wife Tzvia have a daughter and a son. And Dr. Jackson was the mohel.

Yitzchaka Jackson, Dr. Jackson’s wife, met Karov six months ago and said that he was “very unhappy” at the time. “My husband saved his life, and has an intense connection with Aharon.” Yitzchaka noted that Aharon said that he was dissatisfied with himself that the “way he was, was not good enough. He was walking and talking and back to normal but he was very heavy and out of shape.” She said that she is “a runner” and asked him to join her; it took a while for him to agree. “It took a lot out of me,” she said. She told him she was going to the NYC Marathon and asked if he would join her.

“You’re nuts,” he said, “but if you’re nuts and I have a brain injury so I’m nuts, too.” They trained, she said, on condition that they run for a good cause. They ran for OneFamily, an organization that assists victims of terror and their families; they helped Aharon and his family.

Yitzchaka doubts that Karov would run anymore marathons but she hopes he will continue running. Mrs. Jackson, a lawyer, a nurse working in the intensive care unit of a hospital, a mother and a student at Tel Aviv University said, “I am going back to my life.” She said she was responsible for Aharon the last few months, “Now I need to rest.”

“We took care of his wife and both families, providing hot meals, financial assistance, through the whole ordeal,” explained Michelle Napell, executive director of OneFamily. “It’s lifelong, as long as they need us and whatever they need. Even five or ten years after, we are always there for them, like family. Very often if there is another terror attack, when prisoners are released, PTSD sets in, there are triggers, they may be crying all day, can’t function or work. If they need help with bar or bat mitzvah preparations, a wedding, they call and say ‘can you help us,’ that’s what we do.”

OneFamily was launched in the wake of the Sharro restaurant terror attack in 2001 that killed 15 and injured 130 men, women and children. Michal Belzberg was preparing for her bat mitzvah when she heard of the bombing and canceled her party, donating what would have been spent to assist the victims and encouraging friends and family to donate any gifts intended for her as well. Realizing that this was not enough to aid the many terror victims in Israel, the Belzbergs founded OneFamily, a volunteer, non-profit organization, to help terror victims and their families in their daily needs.

Aharon Karov spoke with The Jewish Star in Hebrew after the marathon. “It was excellent, difficult and good. It was very cold, with strong winds in the face on the bridges, but it was an incredible experience. I could never have thought that it would be so full of people cheering us on the entire way, urging us to go on, to continue forward. We trained well. It was a tremendous effort. I knew I had to get to this place and I did. My muscles feel sore; you feel the effort. I worked hard and prepared and knew I could do it. Not everyone can do this.”

Aharon has three brothers and three sisters, “I’m the sandwich,” he said. He lives with his wife and two children in Ariel and is studying Management and Human Resources at Ariel University. He is currently working for PanimElPanim, with the army, presenting talks and discussions with officers and soldiers on values and ethics.

Asked how he was able to leave his wife after their wedding he said, “I was an officer responsible for the soldiers. It was clear that I would go with them into battle.”

He started running because, he said, “I was fat.” And he ran for OneFamily because “I felt an obligation. They came and helped me in everything, and my parents and my wife, doing everything for me. I wanted to do something for them. They were with me all the time. They do what they can.”

He wanted to stress, above all, two things; that he drew his immense willpower to go on from “Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Hakoach shel Hakodosh Baruch Hu” from G-d. And he wanted to stress that if the nation of Israel is united always they can withstand and overcome everything.

“The nation of Israel has to be united always, not only in battle, but always.”

For more, go to OneFamilyTogether.org