After working all night to save the leg of an 18-month-old boy wounded by a Palestinian terror attack in Jerusalem, doctors at the Hadassah University Medical Center were reportedly forced to amputate his leg below the knee.
The Jerusalem Post says the toddler’s parents have not yet confirmed report of the amputation. The baby was placed on a ventilator and rushed into the pediatric trauma unit at Hadassah in a bid to save his leg.
According to Israel National News, the baby remains in serious condition, but the deputy director of the medical center said “there is no danger to his life.”
Five other victims of the attack are receiving treatment at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, including a woman attached to a respirator in intensive care, and a man who underwent orthopedic surgery. A total of eleven people were wounded in the attack, including the toddler and a 68-year-old woman.
The assailant, identified in Palestinian media as Abd al-Muhsam Hasuna, 24, drove his vehicle into a large group of people waiting at a bus stop on Monday afternoon. According to a police spokesman, “officers and security personnel patrolling the area responded immediately and neutralized the terrorist as he attempted to exit the car with an ax, killing him.”
One eyewitness to the attack reported that “a number of people simply lifted the car because there were people underneath it.” Security and medical operations were hindered by flooding from a fire hydrant smashed by the vehicle impact.