The nanny heroine of Mombai

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I hope someone does a long story on the nanny, whose remarkable bravery saved the child. Right now, the stories are focusing mostly on the toddler and his murdered parents. Indeed, that’s a sad story. However, equally important is highlighting the woman who risked her life to save his.</p>

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(CNN) – A 2-year-old survived an attack that took the lives of his parents, thanks to a quick-thinking nanny who grabbed the boy and dashed past gunmen to safety.</p>

<p>Sandra Samuel and Moshe Holtzberg were the only ones to survive a siege on Mumbai’s Chabad House last week.</p>

<p>It could be called one of the miracles of last week’s tragedy in Mumbai, India. Two-year-old Moshe Holtzberg and nanny Sandra Samuel were the only ones to make it out of the Chabad House alive after gunmen stormed the house, killing Chabad House directors Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, and four others…"
[Nanny</a> credited with tot’s daring rescue - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/12/02/moshe.mumbai/index.html]Nanny”>Nanny credited with tot's daring rescue - CNN.com)</p>

2

<p>I agree that the nanny’s brave actions deserve to be honored. This story is so heartbreaking, even more so because, as I just learned in the article you linked, the child’s mother was pregnant.</p>

3

<p>It gets even more heartbreaking. The parents were buried next to their oldest son, who died of Tay-Sachs. Their middle son is in hospital in Israel, because he also has Tay-Sachs. For those who are unfamiliar with Tay-Sachs, it’s a genetic disease that is generally fatal by age 5.</p>

4

<p>Oh, my God! That is awful! Is there a chance that this beautiful 2-year-old has it, too?</p>

5

<p>Great story! I think what drove her was that she understood the culture–that shooting a woman and a baby would be hard for them.</p>

6

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<p>Probably not. The symptoms (degeneration of the nervous system) usually appear by 6 months of age. There are rarer forms of the disease that don’t appear until later - age 5 or so - so it’s possible he has that form but I’m guessing he’s fine.</p>

<p>Tay Sachs is genetic and there is screening for it. I’m surprised his parents weren’t screened.</p>

<p>I, too, think the nanny is a heroine. Bless her.</p>

7

<p>Tay Sachs generally manifests itself in the first year of life.
Especially the form that is prevalent in the descendants of European Jews.</p>

8

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<p>They may have been, but as Orthodox Jews they would no doubt have been unwilling to have an abortion.</p>

9

<p>It’s not an issue of an abortion. Young people are screened and are put into a data base. When they meet someone they might want to marry, they send both names to the database. If both are carriers, they are warned. Most people decide not to marry, or at least, not to have children.</p>

<p>Tay Sachs (and the similar Canavan’s Disease) runs in my family. I have seen the devastation that it brings (cousins who were born before they had genetic testing). I can’t imagine anyone playing roulette knowing both partners are carriers.</p>

10

<p>Yes, I’ve heard of that database, but I didn’t know how widespread its use was.</p>

11

<p>Isn’t this one of the diseases that can be screened for at the few-cell embryo stage? The couple does IVF, and only embryos that are free of the disease are implanted. Extra embryos can be frozen for later children. I am pretty sure that Orthodox Jews can do IVF, because I remember some Orthodox couples at the IVF clinic I went to.</p>