Teenager's life spared by millimeters

The life of Itay Mason, 16, from Netanya, was miraculously spared death from the Iranian missile that struck downtown Haifa on Friday.

Itay was traveling with his father, David, who lives in Kiryat Ata. As they were making their way to the Krayot region, an Iranian missile struck near the two while they were seeking shelter under a nearby bridge.

Both were injured - Itay's father suffered wounds to the upper body, and Itay to the nek, just a few millimeters from a fatal arterial wound.

The boy and his father were taken to the trauma room at Rambam Hospital, where Itay was immediately transferred to the operating room and was operated on by a surgeon specializing in pediatric ENT surgeries and a department intern, who carefully extracted the two pieces of shrapnel.

"There was a great miracle here," says father David, who immigrated from Manchester, England a few years ago, while he was hospitalized with his son in the trauma unit at Rambam's underground hospital. "The child has already been in a few accidents in his life, but we British believe in 11 souls, so we're still fine."