Gideon Shalom, a senior paramedic, was scheduled to accompany a group of Chabad school students from Haifa and the Krayot area on a class trip, serving as their medic and escort. He was waiting at a bus stop for the students' bus, which was due to arrive at any moment, when he suddenly noticed a car veering sharply in his direction.
“I thought it was a car accident and ran toward the vehicle to help the passengers — but then I saw the terrorist, and the fury in his eyes,” he says.
The school administration explained: “This morning, one of the parents — a emissary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach, in this area — called to inform us that, due to traffic, his child would be slightly late. Out of consideration for the fact that this student spends over an hour commuting every day, we decided to hold the bus for 15 minutes.”
According to the original plan, the students were meant to head out on a hike along the Shofet Stream, and on the way, pick up paramedic Gideon Shalom at the Tishbi Junction. It was precisely there — where he was waiting next to a soldier — that the terror attack occurred.
“If we had left on time, without the delay — G-d forbid — the students might have arrived at the bus stop at the exact moment of the attack. We are incredibly grateful to the Almighty for His divine providence and for this great miracle,” said the school principal.