“That game in Teddy that changed the world. Maccabi Tel Aviv against Betar Jerusalem. Ninth minute, a simple height ball. Manny Levy, the talented player that all Israeli football was talking about at the time, runs towards the ball and gets excited, falls, gets up and falls again – loses consciousness. Then like in a bad, indigestible movie, the pictures come up. Players cry, Tal Benin and Itzik Zohar try to help, Professor Ribkind runs and offers the honor to revive him and an ambulance enters the field. The game is stopped, thousands of fans go home with tears. Hadassah Hospital. People from all over the country arrive quietly. Crying. We pray. “
That evening he describes Uri Moshiach, A close friend of the family and a ardent fan of the Yellows, is etched in the memory of every Israeli football fan, and has linked the Levy and Maccabi family forever. A 21-year-old discharged soldier who climbed onto the lawn and returned to his family home as a plant. In an interview with the sports channel, his brother, uncle, along with Avi Nemani and Nir Levin, talk about Manny Levy’s lifestyle today, his overcoming of the difficulty and their wounds, which are still open.
“Every time fans come to him, Manny gets excited”
“My dad and I would usually accompany Manny to every game,” his brother said, “specifically the game Teddy vs. Betar came out that we saw at home on TV. “It was a game and a significant period for him, he had just graduated from the IDF and coach Nir Levin talked to him about the team. He changed his role from striker to defender. Then suddenly we saw him fall on the grass and not get up.”
“I drove the car and drove straight to a hospital in Jerusalem, my mother and father came after me. This is an unforgettable moment, he stands in front of me all the time in memory. On the one hand I saw my brother bedridden, but I also maintained optimism and believed he would get out of it. He could have been in a completely different place today. ”
“From day one, the Maccabi Tel Aviv club and the fans surround us. From the beginning at Beit Levinstein until the release of Manny for home care, “his uncle said of his brother. The fans come to Manny’s birthdays, Fridays and holidays. Beit She’an, Dimona, Safed and Eilat. And media people who have struggled mentally in the past.
“On Hanukkah, Rabbi Aflalo lights candles and there is a special atmosphere in the air. Everyone comes for Manny. We got used to Fridays at noon, in the sun on the grass, with Manny in a wheelchair,” Uri Mashiach continued. Levin, the late Shimon Kork, Avi Nemani, Rami Levy and relatives of the family. You look at them and know that with these people Manny Levy has already won. He wins every day he goes through thanks to warmth, love and a mother who hugs him. “
“You see it happen from the heart. Every time fans or people from the club come and sing to Manny, we see how excited he is,” continued his brother-in-law. “And it is very important to us as a family. We tell him everything and he is aware of everything.”
Goldhaar’s visit to an entire village
“Today Manny is with us in life, and we try to give him everything we can, that’s what gives us the hope to continue,” Dudu said excitedly.
In the first years after the tragic event, the club got involved in a legal battle along with the family’s claim to recognize Manny’s disability. Following an agreement in 2012, the Levy family received compensation in the amount of NIS 5.3 million from a number of parties who claimed it.
“Goldhaar was with us twice at home in Kfar Shalem and came with the championship plate for Manny after the win, which marked a decade without a title. A year later, at the second championship he also invited us to Maccabi’s offices and gave Manny a personal championship plate. Mitch is an amazing man, a man of values “And that is very important. In those moments, Manny was very excited, Maccabi is a part of him.”
Rehabilitation in the pool – watching the sea and songs: Manny’s agenda
“We take care of and help my brother 24 hours a day,” Dudu said. “And he knows he’s being talked about. You see it in his facial expressions, he understands the best situation in the world.”
“People think he’s lying in bed all day but Manny has a life, an agenda. He gets up in the morning, showers, does physiotherapy six times a week. Some of them happen in the pool because the only place he can go is water. This treatment is very important for his physical activity. And he walks 50-60 meters at a time. “
“In addition, Manny also eats twice a day independently, in the morning avocado and various fruits in the morning and evening he loves chicken. Everything is crushed of course, like mashed potatoes. This is one of the most important things that happened over time when we got home, and thanks to counseling and communication clinician. “We have a yard, on beautiful days we take him in a car and see the sea. His life is full. My mother gets up in the morning and goes to him and he smiles at her.”
Nemanji’s wound, the picture and the trophy
“I remember my and Manny’s personal conversation at the office in Kiryat Shalom,” said Nir Levin. “A young and very quiet player, it took time to peel the shells from him. We marked the team as a goal, and then what happened happened.”
“That season we won the state cup and defeated Maccabi Haifa 4: 5 on penalties. To this day I have a picture of the final game at home. I keep it because it has a lot of symbols, but mostly a sign on the back, with the caption ‘For Manny’ with the number 12. See “In the picture are many important people in the history of Maccabi, Nemanji and Tal Benin are waving the trophy together. The sign during the hoist preserves its part this season and after the game we went to bring him the trophy for Beit Levinstein.”
“The story of Mani Levy is an open wound,” said Avi Nemani, one of the great symbols of Maccabi, who was present next to Levy in the moments of the collapse. “There are such and such memories from this day. Every time I remember it there is a bad feeling, a feeling that never goes away. It made me two months where I got all the craving out of the game. I did not want to watch football. “Immediately after that evening, Teddy did the surgery just to escape this story.”
“I have a relationship of many years with the family. I appreciate them very much, they do a sacred work with a great commitment and love that is not seen anywhere else.”
“Mother Dalia, the brothers Guy and his uncle, the late Father Murdoch, were and are around him all the time,” Levin reinforced. 12. I remember what happened and hope for a miracle, I pray that good things will happen to me. ”
