Ruth*, 75, leapt backwards and tumbled when she noticed a car coming toward her in her building’s parking lot in Jerusalem. In the following week, she consulted two general physicians about the persistent strong pain in her back.

“There’s nothing to do about it even if it’s a fracture,” she was advised twice. “Take an over-the-counter pain killer.”

At last, she couldn’t stand the pain any longer and went to the Emergency Room at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus. A back CT scan showed that she had a fracture in a vertebra. Could it be fixed without major surgery?

Of course, at Hadassah’s tertiary-care hospital on the other side of Jerusalem. Using the high-tech angiography suite for neurosurgery donated to Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem by USAID/ASHA, Dr. Josh Schroeder, senior orthopedic surgeon, performed the surgery. A 10-minute fix and Ruth is walking again.

*Not her real name