When Hadassah senior anesthesiologist Dr. David Gozal and his wife, Gabrielle, a Hadassah nurse, decided to participate in the annual Spring Valley half-marathon in northern Israel, they hoped to finish with respectable results. David is a veteran runner, but since this was Gabrielle’s first half-marathon, they decided to run together this year.
Around the eleventh mile, Dr. Gozal noticed a man in his late forties lying by the side of the road. The man was unconscious – pale, with a low pulse and unresponsive. Without wasting any time, Dr. Gozal lifted up the man's jaw that was blocked by his tongue, and immediately realized that unconscious man was a diabetic experiencing a drop in blood sugar. Dr. Gozal gave the man a fast-acting glucose gel and stayed with him until an ambulance arrived and took him to the hospital.
At the end of the run, Hadassah’s team coordinator was surprised to see that Dr. Gozal clocked in 20 minutes above his average time. After learning the reason, everyone agreed, Dr. Gozal’s time was more than exceptional.