United Hatzalah president and founder Eli Beer awakened from his coronavirus-induced coma and was taken off his ventilator over the weekend.
The announcement came in the form of an April 10 blog post on United Hatzalah’s website. “It is with great joy that we can announce that Eli is awake, off the ventilator, and breathing on his own,” spokesperson Raphael Poch wrote. “Thank you to all those who prayed and did acts of kindness in his merit. He has a long recovery ahead, and we ask everyone to give him and his family time before contacting them. We will continue to share updates on Eli’s progress as well as ways to send him well wishes.”
StandWithUs tweeted, “Great news! We wish @UnitedHatzalah’s Eli Beer a continued full and speedy recovery!”
Great news! We wish @UnitedHatzalah's Eli Beer a continued full and speedy recovery!https://t.co/exsB6h4Tot
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) April 12, 2020
Beer was hospitalized in Florida on March 18 after developing COVID-19 symptoms. He had attended a Purim event in Miami as part of a fundraising trip for United Hatzalah, and several people from the event had become infected with the coronavirus. On March 22, United Hatzalah announced Beer had been put on a respirator and was under sedation.
“We expect Eli to be sedated for two days to two weeks, and expect he will experience a full, if slow and difficult, recovery,” United Hatzalah chairpersons Mark and Erica Gerson said at the time.
United Hatzalah is a volunteer organization based in Jerusalem that provides emergency medical services.
