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Raised by a doctor and a nurse in West Long Branch, Steve Averbach learned the value of helping people from an early age and committed himself to that lifestyle, even while he lived through paralysis.

Averbach, a quadriplegic (paralyzed from the neck down) since May 2003, when he attempted to stop a Hamas bomber on the number 6 bus in Jerusalem, died in his sleep at age 44 on June 3 in his Tel Aviv apartment.

After three years in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Averbach joined the Jerusalem police anti-terrorist force and later became a weapons and self-defense instructor for members of private security firms. On his way to work, Averbach spotted a bulge underneath the jacket of a Hamas terrorist disguised as an ultra-Orthodox Jew. The terrorist was waiting for the bus to be full, but by reaching for his gun and heading toward him, Averbach prompted the terrorist to explode his bomb prematurely while the bus was nearly empty. The terrorist killed seven people directly around him, seriously injuring 20. A ball bearing lodged in Averbach's neck crushed his spinal cord.

Following a year at Hadassah Hospital, Averbach spent 11 months in rehabilitation at Tel Hashomer medical center and then returned to his wife, Julie, and his four sons at home near Tel Aviv. From that point on, Averbach served as a motivational speaker at programs for Bar-Ilan University, Hadassah, Young Judaea, and other organizations, and also came to New Jersey several times to raise money for his beloved charity Tikvot (the Hebrew word for "hopes"), which helps rehabilitate terror victims and their families through sports.

Dr. David Averbach, Steve's father, called his son an uncommon "true hero" and said Steve was "brought up in a household that served people," given the careers of David, a surgeon and Vietnam War veteran, and Steve's mother Maida, a nurse.

"He felt comfortable in Israel, he felt that he needed to protect Israel, and that was his job," Maida said.

Maida recalled that Steve "fell in love" with Israel at age 15 when the family traveled there. Steve, who attended Hillel Yeshiva in Ocean, moved to Israel at age 16 to finish school, also working as a baker and a mechanic. At 18, he made aliyah and joined the IDF's Sayeret Golani (special forces). As someone who was "always for the underdog," Steve "felt he was there to protect the citizens of Israel, and he did," Maida said.

"He was very patriotic and very Zionistic," she said.

After his injury, Steve had a large following in both the religious and secular Jewish communities in Israel, Maida said, because of the many friends he made, the work he did for Tikvot, and the motivational presentations he gave.

"Whenever they mentioned his name in Israel, people knew who he was," Maida said.

Steve's parents (members of Congregation Brothers of Israel in Elberon), along with other supporters and friends, established the Heroes Fund for Victims of Terror several years ago through the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County. The fund helps former Monmouth County residents who were injured in Israel, primarily allocating money to Tikvot but also to other organizations that serve terror victims, said Howard Gases, executive director of the federation.

"Even when he was in bad shape from his tragedy he stepped forward and said 'I've got to help people,'" Gases, who met Steve on several occasions when he spoke at federation functions, said.

"We hope in the future that this fund will memorialize Steven in some way," he added.

Steve's finger was still on the trigger of his pistol after police found his body inside the exploded bus in 2003, according to the Tikvot Web site. He lost consciousness and spent five weeks in intensive care at Hadassah Hospital. Besides for the ball bearing that penetrated his neck and was lodged between his third and fourth vertebrae, causing the paralysis, shards of glass punctured Steve's lungs.

When he came to speak at the Ruth Hyman Jewish Community Center in Deal Park several years ago, Steve turned to his brother-in-law, Dr. Allen Sapadin, and told Allen that despite his physical and emotional pain from trying to stop the terrorist, "if I would be faced with the same situation, I would do it again."

Steve was buried June 7 on a mountaintop overlooking Jerusalem. Before his injury, he would come home to the U.S. periodically for occasions like his sister Eileen's wedding, Maida said. However, after Steve was paralyzed, his parents flew to Israel every two or three months to help Julie care for him and to see their grandsons (now all between the ages of 10 and 20). The last time Steve's parents saw him was this past April.

"From the time he was injured, it was a challenge to go and be with him," Maida said.