Florida Boy Dies From Wounds Inflicted by Suicide Bomber in Tel Aviv

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The New York Sun

JERUSALEM – A Florida teenager wounded in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv last month died yesterday from his injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Daniel Wultz, 16, of Weston, Fla., will be flown home for burial today, a spokeswoman for the Tel Aviv Medical Center where he was hospitalized, Yael Tzuberi, said.

Wultz came to Israel with his parents to visit relatives on Passover. He and his father, Tuly, were having lunch at a Tel Aviv restaurant on April 17 when a Palestinian Arab suicide bomber detonated about 10 pounds of explosives in the entrance.

His death brought the number of those killed in the attack to 11, in addition to the suicide bomber. Dozens were wounded, including Wultz’s father, who survived.

The teenager arrived at the hospital after the attack still bleeding and in critical condition, with serious wounds to his abdomen and a leg. After the bleeding was brought under control, doctors removed his spleen and a kidney and treated the leg.

Wultz opened his eyes at one point about two weeks ago but his condition remained critical, deteriorating in recent days, the head of the intensive care unit, Patrick Sorkin, said.

Wultz received 200 units of blood. In part due to the many transfusions and the seriousness of his condition, Wultz contracted an infection and was hooked up to a life support system, Dr. Sorkin said.

“Unfortunately, none of this helped and he died today,” he said.

Thirty-one of Wultz’s schoolmates flew to Israel earlier this month for a special prayer service.

Tuly Wultz, who suffered a leg wound in the attack, said at the service that he and Daniel had managed to exchange a few words right after the blast, despite the severity of his son’s wounds.

“I held his hand and told him I loved him. He said he loved me,” the father said.

The family did not immediately comment yesterday. In Weston, Rabbi Yisroel Spalter of Chabad Lubavitch synagogue said a memorial service would be held there tomorrow. “This is just total shock,” Rabbi Spalter, who has known the family for nine years, said.

“We’re all so broken. Our hearts go out to the family. We’ll have to do something to remember Daniel,” he told the Associated Press.

Wultz had become an observant Jew in recent months and was engrossed in Judaism, Rabbi Spalter said.

“He was a very, very spiritual boy,” the rabbi said. “He used to ask me many questions of how to live as a Jew. He just ate it up.”

The American Embassy had condemned the attack and called on the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab government to take responsibility.

A smaller terrorist group, Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the bombing, but Hamas officials defended it.

According to the American Embassy, more than 200 American citizens have been killed or wounded in terrorist attacks in Israel since 1992.


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