28/02/2026
Hadassah Nurse Saved a Life on a Flight Back to Israel ✈️💙
Avivit Eliyahu, a veteran nurse at Hadassah Medical Center on Mount Scopus, was returning to Israel from a 12 day jeep tour in Ethiopia when a dramatic incident occurred during the flight home.
Mid flight, the flight attendants made an announcement over the intercom asking if there was a doctor or nurse on board. Avivit did not hesitate for a moment and immediately stood up to help. “I got up right away. It’s instinct. I’m a nurse everywhere, even on vacation,” she recounts.
A passenger, approximately 75 years old, who was seated a few rows ahead of her, was unconscious and was apparently suffering from partial choking after food entered his airway. His pulse had weakened and was barely palpable.
Without medical equipment and under complex conditions, Avivit immediately began life saving measures. She laid him down on as stable a surface as possible, cleared secretions, checked his pulse, and began chest compressions in an effort to relieve the obstruction. After several minutes that felt like an eternity, the man opened his eyes and showed signs of life.
Throughout the remainder of the flight until landing, Avivit continued to monitor his condition and did not leave his side.
Avivit has 38 years of experience at Hadassah, most of them in the maternity department.
“At Hadassah, regular resuscitation courses and refreshers are held. In moments like these, every drill saves lives. Literally.”
With her characteristic modesty, she concluded:
“I simply did what needed to be done. I’m a nurse.”
