Amit Mann
The fifth daughter of David and Rachel Mann was born and raised in the town of Netivot. She was a lively girl, full of life, a beautiful and talented ray of sunshine. Blessed with an amazing voice and acting talent, she had a love for singing since she learned to speak and she sang at every opportunity. At the age of 16, she was the lead actress in a theater production of Anne of Green Gables. She attended Darca High School and graduated as a distinguished student of biology.
When she was 11, her beloved father fell ill with cancer and spent three years in home hospice. Watching the doctors and nurses taking care of him, her answer to the question, "What do I want to be when I grow up?" became clear. Her father passed away when she was 14, and the following year, she started volunteering with Magen David Adom (MADA). She took out medical books from the town library, studied on her own, and later attended a medic first-aid course. By the age of 18, she completed an EMT-paramedic course, and her joy seemed to know no bounds when she successfully completed the course. She saw her profession as a mission and dedicated her life to it. She saved and helped countless people, with a special love for women in labor, helping support them to bring new lives into the world. She blended professionalism and sensitivity, humanity, and compassion, creating lasting connections with patients and their families even after treatment ended. Two months before her death, Amit was appointed as the head instructor for the paramedic course in the Negev region, at Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva, making her the youngest head instructor in Israel. She planned to study medicine.
About a year and a half ago, Amit began serving in medical reserves on Kibbutz Be’eri. She was on duty on Saturday the 7th of October, 2023, and, at 6:30 am, she woke up to the sound of air- raid sirens and rocket fire. Her partner, Ofir, left for his shift in Netivot and asked her to join him because he thought it was dangerous to stay on the kibbutz. Amit refused and said, "I need to stay here exactly because it's dangerous."
The terrorists' infiltration began, and those first-responders who were wounded at the outset were brought to the dental clinic before 8 am. Amit, the on-call doctor Daniel, and nurse Nirit were called to the scene and started treating the wounded. Two other first-responders took cover between two parked cars and defended the clinic from dozens of terrorists who entrenched themselves in the area. Throughout, Amit stayed in touch with her family and MADA, pleading for rescue for the injured and providing consistent, professional updates on the patients’ conditions. At 1:50 pm, she messaged her family that the terrorists had returned to the clinic, and the reserve unit had no more ammunition. She wrote in the family WhatsApp group that they wouldn't survive this time, that she loved the family, and added, "Please be strong if something happens to me." In her final call at 2:13 pm, she told her family that the terrorists had shot her in the legs and murdered all the wounded. She didn't know that one of the patients had survived and would later testify that the terrorists returned and killed Amit in cold blood. The soldiers arrived too late and reported that Amit had applied a tourniquet to herself.
Amit loved to watch the sunset. She arranged her schedule every day to make sure she would see the sunset, and wherever she was, she found the best viewpoint. She loved to laugh, listen to heavy-rock music, and travel the world. She was well loved by her friends and always surrounded by them. She loved life and lived it intensely. Above all, Amit loved to help people and save lives.
She was twenty-two years old at her time of death. She was buried next to her father in Netivot.
May her memory be blessed.
