The trip abroad became an emergency: Nachshon was bitten – his condition is critical

70-year-old Nachshon Begon from Mevsheret Zion went on a “retirement trip” in the Far East after 43 years of work, but the bite of a dog he was playing with led to a serious blood infection and a general system collapse. Now he is sedated and ventilated in a hospital in Vietnam, while at the same time the war in Iran and the closed skies, and his family is struggling with the bureaucracy to try to reach him: “It is a matter of hours, we are in a race against time.”

Just last week, Nachshon finished an extensive career of decades at a computer company. As a parting gift, the company invited him to join a trip to Vietnam. What was supposed to be a celebration of freedom and retirement, turned into a medical nightmare and a survival journey in a foreign country.

During the trip a dog bit Nachshon. The bite did not seem serious at first, and Nachshon, who lost his spleen at a young age – which greatly weakened his immune system, did not connect the incident with the weakness that attacked him hours later. “He called and said, ‘I feel sick, I’m shaking,'” his wife, Ruhi, recounts in pain. “We thought it was a normal fever, he went to sleep and woke up in a terrible state.”

“The systems collapsed one after the other”

A quick diagnosis by an Israeli doctor on the spot clarified the extent of the trouble: “a violent bacterium penetrated the bloodstream and caused an infectious storm.” Nachshon was taken to a French hospital in Vietnam, where it was decided to put him to sleep and breathe immediately. Since then, his condition has been deteriorating and Dana, his daughter-in-law, describes: “The heart, the liver, the lungs… the systems have collapsed and he is in critical condition.”

The family in Israel finds itself helpless in the face of the geographical distance and logistical difficulties. Nachshon’s son has already embarked on an arduous journey of several days to reach him, but his wife Ruhi, who recently recovered from cancer, is having trouble finding a quick flight.

The Foreign Ministry told the family that they are assisting with emergency flights to Israel, but since Nachshon’s condition does not allow him to move at all, they are unable to help fly him to Israel. The office is trying to help coordinate outbound flights for the family members, so they can get to Nachshon.

“We can’t bring him to Israel, he’s not in a position to move him,” says Dana. “What will help the most is to put my husband and mother-in-law on a flight to Bangkok on Sunday, so that they will be close and not waste four precious days on the road.”

Ruhi, who is in continuous telephone contact with the medical team that put the device near the anesthetized Nachshon’s ear, begs for help: “I have to be next to him, that’s clear. I can’t not be there. We have to get to him.”