JANUARY 4 • 2024 | 25
Five days a week from 8
a.m.-5 p.m., Saar worked with
a wide range of needs. Many
patients were wounded IDF
soldiers, but patients also
included those with Parkinson’s
disease, multiple sclerosis,
amputees, and people who
were in car or motorcycle acci-
dents.
For 50 days, or nearly two
months, this was Saar’s routine.
“We tried to help people get
their spirits up,
” he says. “We
showed them there’s a way to
get out of this. We wanted to
give them hope and strength.
”
READY TO GO
Saar, who is also involved
with APF — or American
Healthcare Professionals and
Friends for Medicine in Israel,
a North American volunteer
organization that supports
Israel in the event of a national
emergency — is no stranger to
volunteering services.
While he returned to Metro
Detroit on Dec. 7, he said the
need is still there.
If the war escalates, Saar,
who is semi-retired, says he
wouldn’t hesitate to volunteer
in Israel again in January. This
time, he says he would stay for
up to six months.
His wife, Itzi Saar, who also
specializes in rehabilitation
care, may also join him.
“I didn’t buy a roundtrip
ticket [the first time around]
because nobody has any idea
how long this is going to take,
”
Dany Saar says of the ongoing
Israel-Hamas war. “If the
war opens in the north, the
situation could be a lot worse.
”
He says hospital systems like
Sheba Medical Center will need
all the help they can get from
trained medical professionals
who understand the Hebrew
language and needs.
Still, having volunteered
there for 50 days, Saar feels
confident in hitting the
ground running if he were to
return to Israel early next year
to volunteer rehabilitation
services.
“From the time we leave
until we hit the ground, it’s
close to zero,
” he says of any
learning curves. “We’re pretty
much set.
”
The rehabilitation clinic at
Sheba Medical Center in Tel
HaShomer (near Tel Aviv)