Dvir (Dvir Nissan ben Esther) Kinarti, the 8-year-old boy who was shot
in the back by Palestinian terrorists while driving home two weeks
ago, is no longer suffering from depression - thanks to Hadassah
Hospital's "clown doctor."  Dvir today entered Alyn Children's
Hospital, billed as "Israel's Only Pediatric and Adolescent
Rehabilitation Center," where he will be undergoing physical therapy.
He is able to use one leg, but the other is, for unknown reasons, not
yet functional, and he is wheelchair-bound.  Dvir was in a car with
his mother on his way to Ofrah when terrorists sprayed
the vehicle with automatic weapons fire.

Though he was originally suffering from a form of depression, Dvir's
spirits are now vastly improved following "clown-doctor treatment" in
the children's department in Hadassah Ein Karem.  Two such doctors
visit the ward regularly on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Dr. Patch Adams, the American doctor who originated "clown doctor"
therapy and who was the subject of a popular movie on the topic,

[Polar question:  Anybody know the name of the movie? Thanks]

visited Israel two months ago.  He participated in a seminar at the
Assaf HaRofeh Hospital in Tel Aviv on "Humor and Laughter in the
Service of Medicine," and paid visits to hospitalized children in
Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Dr. Adams said at the time that the most important aspects of a
patient's treatment are "empathy and support."  Prof. Mordechai Aljam,
director of the Assaf HaRofeh Children's Ward, said that after the
clown doctor meets with the children, "most of the work is already
done."

Some 40 people are currently nearing the end of a six-month "clown
medicine" course - the first of its kind in Israel - at Assaf HaRofeh
Hospital.

--
Polar