The police worked speedily on different fronts on Tuesday morning to facilitate an emergency liver transplant.
While in the midst of giving a traffic ticket to a female driver at the Kadima junction near Netanya, policeman Ran Leicht was approached by a civilian who told him the following story: “I have long been waiting for a suitable liver for a transplant for me, and I just now received a phone call from Ichilov Hospital saying that one has been found. But they said I have to get there within a half-hour, or else the liver will be damaged and I won’t be able to use it!”
Policeman Leicht immediately understood the gravity of the situation, dropped the ticket he was writing, and took the man in his own police vehicle to Ichilov. He asked by radio, and received, permission to drive speedily with sirens screeching. When he gave the radio operator the name of the civilian, he heard a gasp; the operator said it was her relative.
At the same time, the liver also had to be delivered to Ichilov. The National Organ Transplant Center (NTSC) turned to another branch of the police, asking the National Traffic Police center for help in speedily delivering the liver from Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah to Ichilov in Tel Aviv. Devorah Sherer of NTSC explained that the recipient was on his way, and asked the police to overcome the heavy traffic and make sure to get the liver to the hospital in time.
A police car from Tel Aviv was sent to Beilinson to pick up the liver and transport it to Ichilov, which it did in record time. The citizen and his new liver met up within the prescribed half-hour, and the transplant operation was performed successfully.