When a child stopped breathing at a Thai resort, a pediatric nurse from Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam) and his wife—also a pediatric nurse—didn’t hesitate.
Rambam nurse, Amir Abu Raya, with his family while on vacation in Thailand. Photography: Courtesy of the family.
Amir Abu Raya was enjoying the final day of his trip with his wife, Samar, and their son at a resort on Khao Lak Island near Phuket. Both Amir and Samar are experienced pediatric nurses—Amir in the Joan & Sanford Weil Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at the Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital at Rambam and Samar at Ziv Medical Center’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
“We were by the pool when we heard people screaming,” Abu Raya recalls. “A child, around five years old, had been pulled from the water with no signs of life.”
Without hesitation, the couple initiated CPR. Abu Raya began chest compressions while his wife provided advanced life support interventions. Within moments, another vacationing physician, who also happened to be the head of Ichilov Hospital’s Emergency Department, joined the effort.
The child vomited and lost consciousness repeatedly. The group worked together for 20 tense minutes until emergency services arrived. “Thankfully, he survived,” says Abu Raya. “If the outcome had been different, it would have been heartbreaking. Our own son Mufak, the same age as the child we treated, witnessed the entire event. We spoke with him afterward about what had happened—it was the first time he saw what we do at work.”
Reflecting on the incident, Abu Raya stresses the critical importance of immediate action in drowning events. “CPR can make all the difference. At Rambam, we receive professional refresher training every two years, which prepares us to respond in exactly these kinds of situations,” he explains. “Everyone should consider taking a basic CPR course. These skills save lives.”
Whether in a hospital corridor or a faraway resort, Rambam’s medical teams carry their training and commitment wherever they go—ready to save lives in every corner of the world.
