Members of the Maccabi squad made a special holiday visit to Sheba Medical Centre at the Tel Hashomer hospital
A day after the team's opening round two of the Israeli Premier League with a victory, five members of the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad made a special Hanukkah holiday visit to the Sheba Medical Centre at Tel Hashomer hospital in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan. Tal Ben Chaim, who starred in the team's win over Maccabi Petach Tikva, joined Dor Micha and Ben Reichert at the hospital's rehabilitation centre while fellow squad members Barak Badash and Eden Ben Basat made an additional visit to the children's wing at the hospital. The players went from room to room, chatted with patients and handed out gifts from the club, including scarves and hats. The visit included an emotional encounter with a number of soldiers who were wounded during the conflict last summer in the south of the country. But young and old, Maccabi fans or otherwise, all the patients were both surprised and delighted by the sight of the visiting Maccabi stars.
After the visit, striker Barak Badash shared his emotions with the website crew: "Just to see the smiles on their faces, to feel you've 'made their day', even if it's just for a few moments, that's a really satisfying feeling. And I think it's particularly important to wish them a happy and healthy holiday and success with their recovery. I only hope we've made a small contribution to that process". Eden Ben Basat picked up where fellow striker Badash left off: "Meeting these kids was a very emotional experience for me, somehow it made me feel stronger. One small smile makes it all worth it, I can only wish them a very speedy recovery".
