Canadian-born Ben (Benji) Brown, a lone soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, was stationed at Har Dov on Israel’s northern border. A missile struck the army base, and he sustained a life-threatening injury. After being airlifted to Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam) in Haifa, Israel, and following multiple surgeries, Brown was placed in a medically induced coma.
Brothers (L) Ben and (R) Zach. Credit: Courtesy of the family.
After a year and a half of yeshiva study, 20-year-old Brown chose to serve in Israel’s lone soldier program, which assists, guides, and supports new immigrants without an immediate family who are serving in the IDF. He was selected to serve in the elite Golani Brigade. On July 24, when Brown was just a month away from completing his army service a piece of shrapnel from an exploding Hezbollah missile penetrated his helmet, injuring his brain. Remarkably, no one else on his base was injured.
He was airlifted to Rambam and admitted to the Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein Shock Trauma Room in the Green-Wagner Department of Emergency Medicine. Several surgeries followed and to aid his recovery, physicians from the Department of Neurosurgery placed Brown in a medically induced coma.
Back in Toronto, the Brown family—active members of Thornhill’s Jewish community—received the devastating news of Ben’s injury and his admission to Rambam. Since then, his older brother Zach, a former lone soldier and now a student at Reichman University near Tel Aviv, has remained steadfastly by his bedside.
The brothers are not just siblings but close friends. Zach describes Brown as a strong, energetic, and enthusiastic person, beloved by everyone around him. He is confident that Brown will pull through. Zach sits by his bedside, talks to his brother and observes daily improvements—small movements, his eyes opening and blinking. When Brown hears music, his heartbeat changes. His family, friends, and the medical team are patiently waiting for him to awaken fully.
Zach is a hero in his own right. In the six weeks following October 7, he drove 9,500 kilometers, delivering much-needed supplies to soldiers at army bases nationwide. He commends the IDF for their unwavering support since the accident and expresses deep gratitude to Thornhill’s Jewish community for their solidarity.
Brown is still being treated at Rambam and has not yet come out of the coma, but his family, religious Zionists, find hope in their faith. “There is no bad news,” says Zach. “We still have Benji, he’s out for a little bit, but he’s going to come back.”
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