Seriously injured in the line of duty by a Hezbollah anti-tank missile, Lieutenant Roy Moshe (22) was swinging between life and death. After multiple surgeries at Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam) in Haifa, Israel, Moshe’s doctors share that he continues to smile – despite a shattered jaw.
Professor Adi Rachmiel. Photography: Rambam HCC.
On October 21, a missile almost killed IDF soldier Lieutenant Roy Moshe while he was digging trenches near Kibbutz Baram in Northern Israel. In critical condition with tourniquets on each of his limbs, he was airlifted to Rambam, where he lay unconscious for four days.
“My Unit was on the front line. We were carrying out an ambush. Although the enemy could not see us, we were exposed, without protection, and with nowhere to hide,” remembers Moshe. “We were digging 24 trenches with equipment borrowed from Kibbutz Baram. At 5 pm, I took a short break and heard a loud explosion. An anti-tank missile exploded half a meter from my head, and parts of my body were injured by flying shrapnel.”
Moshe explained that his comrades came to his aid, applied tourniquets to all his limbs, and put him on a stretcher, after which he was evacuated. “There was blood everywhere,” he recalls, thankful that his helmet and ceramic vest protected his head and upper torso from more critical injury.
A paramedic on the rescue team tried to open his airway but failed, placing his life in further danger. Extracting Moshe from the site and transferring to him was like a small military operation in and of itself. It involved two helicopter transfers and administration of two blood transfusions. Just over an hour later, Moshe was admitted to Rambam’s Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein Shock Trauma Room in the Green-Wagner Department of Emergency Medicine. “You’ve arrived at Rambam, and everything will be OK,” were the comforting words Moshe heard from the first doctor he met. “Then I lost consciousness,” he adds.
Over the next 10 hours, Moshe underwent an emergency tracheotomy, life-saving surgeries, and received eight blood packs, after which he was transferred to one of the hospital’s critical care units. For four days, Moshe was sedated and ventilated, his condition classified as unstable and critical. Only after regaining consciousness did he learn the full extent of his injuries.
Professor Adi Rachmiel, director of both Rambam’s Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and director of Maxillofacial Surgery at the Head and Neck Center, recounts, “We constantly monitored his condition. He had facial bone injuries, cuts, lacerations, and shrapnel wounds in his cheeks, jaw, and base of his tongue. The shrapnel penetration stopped only millimeters from his carotid artery.” The complexity of these facial injuries required planning a complex operation, Rachmiel explains, “Specialized 3D CT imaging makes it possible to accurately identify all the fractures of the facial bones and jaw. This advanced technology allowed us to measure the dimensions of the brace needed for repairing his fractures. During the five-hour surgery, we could customize it.”
Led by Rachmiel and accompanied by Dr. Dekel Shilo and Dr. Uri Blank, both attending physicians in the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, the surgeons treated Moshe’s facial injuries and affixed the brace. “This surgery requires skill, expertise, and professionalism. We stitched the tongue and facial tears and then clamped the upper and lower jaws shut to allow them to heal,” says Rachmiel.
Jaw injuries of this type affect basic needs such as eating, drinking, and speaking. For the next two months, Moshe suffered. “My mother did not move from my bedside, and she fed me with a syringe. She fed me like a baby – I lost 19 kg,” he recalls. Moshe’s mother, however, is quick to point out that even in this difficult situation, “We could always see his beautiful smile.” Ongoing medical care, physical and occupational therapy, and emotional counseling are all part of Moshe’s long healing process. His rehabilitation continues at the Loewenstein Hospital Rehabilitation Center in Raanana. His doctors comment that throughout the ordeal, Moshe remains positive and smiles.
“I am still not allowed to bite or chew, which is hard. I had been avoiding going home on weekends. I feared people would notice my missing teeth. But now, when they look at me, they understand,” he concludes. Moshe smiles, “I was injured as a commander and warrior, so why should I be ashamed that a few of my teeth are missing?”
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