About Meir Chochmon

Meir works as a personal aid for the Mayor of Acre (Akko), is a father of two and has been volunteering as a United Hatzalah medic for the past 3 years.  Volunteering is not always an easy task, but frequently the inspiration and encouragement comes from the most unlikely of sources.

One Yom HaShoah, Israeli Holocaust Remembrance Day, at 9:40 AM, Meir was alerted to an elderly man who had collapsed on the sidewalk nearby. Meir radioed back that he was on the way and sped to the scene, arriving first on site. The experienced medic immediately began CPR on the pulseless man and then enlisted passersby to continue chest compressions while he secured the man’s airway.  Five minutes later, an ambulance arrived, followed by a mobile intensive care unit. Meir and the crews worked in tandem as they rigorously fought to save the elderly man’s life.  At 10:00 AM, with the CPR in full progress, sirens began to blare for the customarily moment of silence in memory of those who perished in the Holocaust.  As the sirens and silent tears cried out for the lives lost, the battle for one more life continued unabated. Finally, their efforts were successful and the man was transported to the hospital with a heartbeat and breathing on his own.

The next day, something inside Meir prompted him to go to the hospital to inquire about the gentleman’s welfare.  Before he entered the man’s room, Meir was filled with trepidation but was pleasantly surprised to see the man sitting up in his bed. The two men chatted and Meir learned that this man himself was himself a Holocaust survivor.  Despite more than a 50 year age gap, the two men bonded instantly.  Meir became the son the man never had, and the man become Meir’s adopted grandfather.  Meir sent mishloach manot to the man and his wife on Purim, and he lit a Chanukah Menorah in their home every year.  One day, the man’s wife passed away, and for an entire year Meir said Kaddish for her, bringing great consolation to his bereft and lonely “grandfather”.

As much as Meir gives of himself to his lifesaving efforts, in his own words “I receive much more in return.”