Ariella Applebaum
Ariella is 19 years old, and originally from Teaneck, New Jersey. She's a junior at Stern College, who is pre-med, on track for pediatric surgery. MDA is very personal for Ariella... she was inspired to volunteer with MDA by her second cousin, Shira, an MDA medic. Shira's father and sister were killed by a suicide bomber in 2003, the day before her sister's wedding. Ariella has drawn inspiration from the family tragedy and found, in MDA, opportunities to save lives and give back to Israel in ways she never realized. She was so taken by her time with MDA that she decided to extend her initial 6-week course into a full year. She served out of MDA's Jerusalem station during Operation Protective Edge
