Captain Ziv Shilon, badly injured in Gaza when he lost his hands in an explosion near the border fence, participated in a ceremony for his soldiers and awarded them their battle pins.


Shilon, a battalion commander in the Givati brigade, was hurt when an explosive charge that had been planted on the security fence bordering Gaza was set off.

He lost consciousness and was hospitalized. When he came back to, he told Maj. Gen. Tal Russo, who visited him: "After the explosion I noticed that my left hand had remained on the fence. A lot of blood was pouring from my mangled arms. I managed to run and I fired 20 bullets at the terrorists, using the hand that was hurt but not severed, as well as my mouth and nose to operate the weapon."

"I reached my jeep, where the medic was seated. He saw my mangled arms and almost fainted. I head-butted him hard in the chest and told him to apply a tourniquet quickly, because otherwise I will die. Now I understand that this saved my life." (background on Shilon from Arutz7)

This man is a גיבור ישראל and his strong words in the ceremony are as much a part of that as his actions on the battlegrounds.