Infant Dies After Mother Killed in Car Crash: Tragic Story

A tragic story that began six weeks ago with a fatal car accident near Ashdod has ended with the death of an infant who had been fighting for her life since birth. Hadar Cohen died Tuesday at Assuta Hospital in Ashdod, where she had been hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit since being delivered by emergency cesarean section following the crash that killed her mother.

The accident occurred approximately six weeks ago on the road to Sderot, near the Port of Ashdod. Tzofia Cohen, a Jerusalem resident who was in advanced stages of pregnancy, was involved in a head-on collision between two vehicles. According to reports from the scene, the crash resulted in significant front-end damage to both cars.

Cohen was rushed to Assuta Hospital in Ashdod in critical condition with multi-system trauma. Medical teams from trauma, emergency, labor and delivery, and neonatal departments were mobilized simultaneously in an urgent effort to save both mother and baby. As the mother's condition rapidly deteriorated, doctors made the decision to perform an emergency cesarean section in an attempt to save the unborn child.

Tragically, doctors were forced to pronounce the mother's death during the emergency procedure, while the newborn was transferred in very serious condition to the neonatal intensive care unit for continued treatment. Israel Meir Gian, an emergency medical responder with Magen David Adom's motorcycle unit, described the difficult scene at the accident site: "This was a head-on collision between two vehicles. The vehicles had damage to their front sections, a woman around 30 years old was semi-conscious and suffering from multiple injuries to her body."

Since the accident, many had been praying for the recovery of the newborn, who fought for her life for approximately six weeks in the hospital's neonatal unit. However, the family and community received the devastating news that Hadar Cohen had passed away at Assuta Hospital in Ashdod.