IsraelNN joined the Shaked family as their eight-month old daughter Elinor was being taken out of the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem to an ambulance on her way to the Ben Gurion airport for a flight to Belgium. Elinor is coping with a difficult liver disease and she needs an urgent liver transplant, which will be carried out in Belguim. Elinor's father will be donating his lobe to his beloved daughter.
Iris Shaked, Elinor's mother spoke with IsraelNN: "My hope is that we will return with Elinor healthy. I want to thank all those who supported and helped, many of whom I don't even know at all. There were mothers who went through what I'm going through and contacted me to encourage and strengthen us. They said that I was doing the right thing for my daughter. My greatest hope is that no mother should deal with this, but if there is, she should not have to go through what I went through."
No one should have to go through what I went through
Elinor's mother indeed had a lot to deal with until the day of the flight; a few weeks ago, Clalit Health Services refused to fund the surgery abroad, while the family claimed that Elinor could not be operated in Israel due to lack of experience in liver transplants for children who weigh less than seven kilograms. After an intense legal battle and public struggle, the flight and surgery were approved.
"Lots of time was wasted", Iris explains, "if only people would have seen how badly the child's situation deteriorated during the past week… it was unnecessary. Had I continued on my own with this battle without all the help, it would have probably been in vain."
While the legal and public struggle was successful and Clalit is now funding the procedure, the Shaked family still needs a great deal of support; and the Kav Lachayim organization has undertaken to help the family cope with the situation.
The Shaked family asks that all pray for the health of Elinor bat Iris. There are a number of ways to help support the Shaked family:
1. To donate 10 Shekels, send a text message (in Israel) with the number 10 to the number 6226
2. Donated can be transferred to Bank Hapoalim, Branch #532, Account #660978
3. Telephone number for more details: +972-3-9250505
4. The Kav Lachayim website