The death of Sergeant Eitan Fichman, who collapsed and died during a military exercise in northern Israel overnight Wednesday, came as a great shock to his grieving family, coming six and a half after his sister Efrat lost her bout with cancer at the age of 24.
Eitan's sister Shira told Ynet that after Efrat's passing, it was Eitan who encouraged the family to stay strong in the face of their loss.
"He was the reason to move on with life," she said on Thursday.
"Eitan was the light that kept us together, he was close to our parents. He was a quiet, modest, kind, responsible, caring guy who was very dedicated to his military service. He had endless patience, and he enlisted in the IDF full of motivation and the officers loved him very much, he also planned to become an officer."
"He was very active," she said. "We don't know what happened to him in the tank yet, the IDF investigation is still ongoing. During the live fire drill, communication with him was lost for three to seven minutes. And the IDF is still having trouble explaining what happened, and what was the cause of his death.
Eitan was perfectly healthy. Maybe he lost his balance and got hit on the head, I don't know. We agreed to an autopsy, but it did not go through because there were no available doctors. He didn't have any medical conditions and he was highly skilled. He didn't do something that was forbidden on purpose, it's a real mystery and we're waiting for the results."
Meanwhile, Ground Forces Command chief Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai ordered to resume training after it was halted due to the incident and a preliminary probe was completed.
"The forces will continue drills after safety protocols in armored vehicles are clarified to all officers and soldiers in the relevant units, and after all units are briefed on the findings of the preliminary investigation into this incident and similar past events," the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said.