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When the Limo is not Good Enough, Celebrities Travel in a Yad SaraVan [ 25/12/2006 ]
 
A Volunteer's Personal Account of Driving Professor Stephen Hawking 

 
Prof. Stephen Hawking with David Rothner, Yad Sarah spokesman, Saul Pasternak, YadSarah minibus driver, and Debbie Ben-Tal, Yad Sarah's Karten Computer Center coordinator

"It was a tremendous responsibility and more than a little stressful to know I was driving a living treasure in my YadSarah special minibus, the man who has been defined as the most brilliant mind in the world today," relates Saul Pasternak, a long-time volunteer at Yad Sarah.  Nevertheless he managed to carry off his assignment successfully and has many interesting tales to relate to his friends and family as a result. 
Pasternak first began volunteering for Yad Sarah after the death of his mother 12 years ago.  He felt that the best way to memorialize her would be to contribute whatever he could to helping the disabled. It gives  him great pleasure driving handicapped people to hospitals, on shopping trips and to family events.   Most recently he was among the many Yad Sarah volunteer  drivers who, during the recent war with Lebanon helped to evacuate disabled people to towns and villages out of rocket range.

Saul Pasternak’s  devotion to Yad Sarah has encouraged his children,  two of whom also volunteer for Yad Sarah.

Over the years Pasternak has driven  thousands  of handicapped  people, including virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman (see photo below), the Washington Post opinion columnist Charles Krauthammer, European Union Parliamentarians and President Ezer Weizman.  However, driving Professor Hawking will always be Pasternak’s most memorable experience.

Saul Pasternak was amazed by Hawking’s calmness throughout his  extremely full itinerary. The itinerary included a  lecture at  the Hebrew University, a photo-session on behalf of disabled children at the home of the British Ambassador to Israel, a lecture delivered by video to the Palestinian Authority, and  an interview on Israel Television Channel 2.
Hawking at the age of 22 was afflicted by ALS ,  a chronic and progressive disease. Today, at the age of 64, Professor Hawking is recognized  as one of the world’s  leading physicists.  He has published many learned works and three popular books. 
Yad Sarah and Saul Pasternak  feel  privileged to have been chosen to provide the  specialized transport service for the duration of Professor Hawking’s visit to Israel.
  

The Yad Sarah transportation services began in 1985 with two specially designed vans.  Today Yad Sarah operates a fleet of 33 YadSaraVans, including one bullet-proof YadSaraVan.  There has been a constant increase in demand for the service (an 11% rise this past year alone). In 2006, approximately 56,000 elderly and  handicapped people were transported in these hydraulically-adapted vans. Unlike ambulance services, Yad Sarah is not eligible for a tax break for these van purchases.  At a cost of over $68,000 each, the vans are extremely costly. Yad Sarah is seeking funds to meet  the increased demand for this service in 2007 in order to improve the quality of life for those who require this special and vital form of transportation.



Itzhak Perlman being transported by a YadSaraVan.


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