‘We’re so lucky you’re all Israelis’, flight attendant tells passengers who helped man taken ill on jet

Among those who rushed to help was Regev Ben-David, an Israeli historian who had moved to Maryland with his wife and three children for a postdoctoral fellowship.

He had boarded the Austrian Airlines flight to attend an academic conference in Israel, with no idea that he would soon be assisting in a medical emergency.

“I was asleep, or trying to sleep. I heard a woman shouting, ‘Help, help,’” he told Israeli news outlet Ynet.

Getting out of his seat, he found a man lying across the seats beside a woman who was calling for assistance.

Ben-David switched on the lights and tried to establish whether the passenger could hear him or respond to questions.

After attempting to help him towards the front of the aircraft, Ben-David realised the man could barely walk.

Another passenger helped him move the man to an area where the cabin crew could provide space for treatment.

Two doctors then arrived: Dana Gefen Doron, a rehabilitation physician, and a psychiatrist.

They began assessing the passenger using the medical equipment available on board, while Ben-David remained on hand to assist.

Gefen Doron later described the moment in a Facebook post, explaining that a flight attendant had approached her after an announcement asking for a doctor.

“‘Thank God, we need you,’ the flight attendant tells me, pulling me forward,” she wrote.

She recalled seeing two members of the crew struggling to carry the unconscious man through the narrow aisle, with Ben-David stepping in to help.

Although he had no professional medical qualifications, Ben-David told the doctors he was available to do whatever they needed.

“The only guy on the plane who helped the crew tells us he has no medical training, but makes it clear in English that he's at our disposal until we tell him he's no longer needed: ‘Where do you want me? How can I help?’” Gefen Doron wrote.

Ben-David later admitted that his decision to intervene had been instinctive rather than carefully considered.

“Now that I hear myself telling you this, I think maybe it was a little irresponsible,” he said. “But it was something I just instinctively felt I had to do.”

He had received basic first-aid training during his military service, but had never expected to find himself in such a situation.

As the doctors worked, an unexpected discovery emerged.

Gefen Doron asked the passenger’s wife about his name and realised it sounded Israeli. Switching to Hebrew, she asked whether the couple were from Israel. The woman confirmed that they were and revealed that she had previously worked as a medic for Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medical service.

“On the other side of the unconscious man, down by his feet, the guy who helped us says, ‘Oh, wow, I'm Israeli too,’” Gefen Doron wrote.

The psychiatrist also disclosed that she was Israeli, prompting the group to abandon English and communicate in Hebrew.

“‘So you are all Israelis? We are so lucky,’” Gefen Doron recalled a flight attendants saying.

Ben-David said one crew member’s observation particularly stayed with him: that they “all speak the language.”

Being able to communicate in Hebrew helped the group coordinate their efforts and speak directly with the passenger.

Fortunately, the man recovered, and even managed to joke about the Israeli election.

According to Gefen Doron, he asked her: “‘Do you want to know who I'm voting for, so you can decide whether it's worth treating me?’”

She responded with a joke of her own, making clear that his political preferences would not affect his treatment.

The encounter continued after the aircraft landed in Vienna. with the

Before boarding their connecting flight to Tel Aviv, the group met for breakfast and coffee, despite having known one another for only a few hours.

“I felt we had a lot in common,” Ben-David said, describing the gathering as feeling like a meeting between old friends.

Gefen Doron wrote: “We all had coffee together in Vienna and continued as new friends on the flight to Tel Aviv.”

She later contrasted the quiet overnight emergency with the lively atmosphere aboard their next flight.

“Everyone has brought too much hand luggage. People are fighting over seats. Children are yelling at their parents that they don't want schnitzel in pita bread and are demanding Bamba," she continued, referring to the popular Israeli peanut snack.

"If someone faints here, I have no doubt everyone will rush over to help. How good it is to be home."

The story spread rapidly online, reaching Ben-David only when his sister tagged him in Gefen Doron’s post. He said he had initially shared the experience only with his wife, parents and friends.

Reflecting on the reaction, he said the story had resonated because people were looking for something positive amid an emotionally difficult period.

“I could see that it really answered a need people have right now, during these very emotionally charged days, for another glimpse of optimism, hope and solidarity,” he said.

“And I'm happy to be part of that.”