Publication: Yediot Ahronot
Type: Newspaper
Date: July 14, 2009
Country: Israel
Section: N/A
Title: The Hero With The Flag
Reporter: Reuben Weiss
Article PDF Download: link
THE HERO WITH THE FLAG
In an exceptional gesture, Puerto Rico chose a teenager, Amiel Ortiz, who was wounded by a booby-trapped Purim gift basket a year and a half ago in Ariel, to lead their contingent in the opening ceremony.
Article by Reuben Weiss
Amiel Ortiz, an exceptional athlete who is 16 and a half years old from Ariel, made headlines a year and a half ago when he was critically wounded on Purim from a booby trapped Purim gift that was brought to his familyʼs home. In a very exciting and unique gesture, the Puerto Rican contingent to the Maccabiah Games decided to choose him to lead their contingent yesterday in the opening ceremony.
In the month of March 2008, Ortiz, who at the time was the captain of the Teens Divsion Ariel HaPoel basketball team, returned to his home and found a wrapped package on the table that had been placed by the door of his house, and which was brought inside by the housekeeper. Ortiz, because it was Purim eve, reasoning that it was a Purim gift package, opened it and It exploded, wounding him critically. The doctors at Beilenson Hospital where the teenager was brought, fought to save his life. “He suffered 3rd degree burns, more than 100 pieces of metal and glass shards penetrated every part of his body, and until today, he has undergone 11 operations”, Ortizʼs mother Leah told us yesterday.
As a result of the bomb that was sent to the familyʼs home, an investigation was opened by the police and the secret services, on the suspicion that the terror attack was carried out because of religious reasons, because the teenager belongs to a family which belongs to the group called Messianic Jews, that believe that Yeshua is the Messiah and who pray to him. Despite their efforts, the investigation hasnʼt come up with anything.
Ortiz, who still has most of the shards remaining in his body, and whose doctors were forced to amputate parts of his toes on his left foot from the severe injury that he sustained, began the difficult rehabilitation process. “The boy is a hero” his mother said yesterday, talking about Ortiz who is the youngest of her 6 children. “He didnʼt give up; he successfully finished this school year and will begin the 11th grade in the Fall. About 10 months ago he also gradually went back to basketball. He still has to undergo about 5 more operations”.
The severe attack also aroused response from the Jewish community and Christians all over the world, and from there they have anxiously and with great interest followed Ortizʼs rehabilitation and the progress of the investigation of the case. Ortizʼs father who immigrated to Israel from the U.S. is from a family of Puerto Rican origin, and is friends with the Jewish community in Puerto Rico who have followed the case, and turned to the family, requesting that the teenager lead the contingent in the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Games. “We and Amiel were very excited by this exceptional turn of events”, Leah said yesterday.
Type: Newspaper
Date: July 14, 2009
Country: Israel
Section: N/A
Title: The Hero With The Flag
Reporter: Reuben Weiss
Article PDF Download: link
THE HERO WITH THE FLAG
In an exceptional gesture, Puerto Rico chose a teenager, Amiel Ortiz, who was wounded by a booby-trapped Purim gift basket a year and a half ago in Ariel, to lead their contingent in the opening ceremony.
Article by Reuben Weiss
Amiel Ortiz, an exceptional athlete who is 16 and a half years old from Ariel, made headlines a year and a half ago when he was critically wounded on Purim from a booby trapped Purim gift that was brought to his familyʼs home. In a very exciting and unique gesture, the Puerto Rican contingent to the Maccabiah Games decided to choose him to lead their contingent yesterday in the opening ceremony.
In the month of March 2008, Ortiz, who at the time was the captain of the Teens Divsion Ariel HaPoel basketball team, returned to his home and found a wrapped package on the table that had been placed by the door of his house, and which was brought inside by the housekeeper. Ortiz, because it was Purim eve, reasoning that it was a Purim gift package, opened it and It exploded, wounding him critically. The doctors at Beilenson Hospital where the teenager was brought, fought to save his life. “He suffered 3rd degree burns, more than 100 pieces of metal and glass shards penetrated every part of his body, and until today, he has undergone 11 operations”, Ortizʼs mother Leah told us yesterday.
As a result of the bomb that was sent to the familyʼs home, an investigation was opened by the police and the secret services, on the suspicion that the terror attack was carried out because of religious reasons, because the teenager belongs to a family which belongs to the group called Messianic Jews, that believe that Yeshua is the Messiah and who pray to him. Despite their efforts, the investigation hasnʼt come up with anything.
Ortiz, who still has most of the shards remaining in his body, and whose doctors were forced to amputate parts of his toes on his left foot from the severe injury that he sustained, began the difficult rehabilitation process. “The boy is a hero” his mother said yesterday, talking about Ortiz who is the youngest of her 6 children. “He didnʼt give up; he successfully finished this school year and will begin the 11th grade in the Fall. About 10 months ago he also gradually went back to basketball. He still has to undergo about 5 more operations”.
The severe attack also aroused response from the Jewish community and Christians all over the world, and from there they have anxiously and with great interest followed Ortizʼs rehabilitation and the progress of the investigation of the case. Ortizʼs father who immigrated to Israel from the U.S. is from a family of Puerto Rican origin, and is friends with the Jewish community in Puerto Rico who have followed the case, and turned to the family, requesting that the teenager lead the contingent in the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Games. “We and Amiel were very excited by this exceptional turn of events”, Leah said yesterday.