Lana Liani is a ninth-grade student at a Tel Aviv school. In her free time, she takes part in Magen David Adom’s first aid training course for youth. Just before the course’s midterm exam—where participants are required to demonstrate their understanding and ability to recognize the signs of a stroke—Lana experienced an extraordinary event of her own.
“He wasn’t speaking clearly”
One afternoon after school, she noticed her father, Rafael, was behaving strangely.
“He wasn’t speaking clearly,” she recalls. “He was making odd movements and collapsed onto the couch.”
Drawing on what she had learned in the course, Lana quickly performed the basic medical assessments she had been taught. She suspected her father might be having a stroke.
“I told my mom we needed to take him to the hospital immediately,” she remembers. “When we arrived, they sedated and intubated my father. The doctors then discovered it wasn’t a stroke—but a life-threatening bacterial infection in his brain. They told us that without the quick response, my father might not have survived.”
“I’m endlessly grateful to Lana”
Reflecting on the incident, Lana says:
“I feel proud of myself for joining Magen David Adom. It gave me the tools to recognize that something was wrong. I think everyone should know at least the basics of how to identify cases like this. I joined MDA so I could help people and save lives—I never imagined it would hit so close to home, and that I’d end up saving my father’s life.”
Rafael, deeply moved, shared:
“After I woke up, they told me what Lana had done and how quick she was to act. I’m endlessly grateful to her.”
His advice to other parents:
“If I have one piece of advice, it’s this—send your children to Magen David Adom.”
