Sergeant Daniel Chemu, a paratrooper who fell in battle in the north of the Gaza Strip, donated in October bone marrow and saved the life of a woman who needed a transplant.
A few days before the war broke out, Chemu received a phone call from the Ezer Mizion organization telling him that he was found to be a match for bone marrow donation to a woman in her sixties who urgently needed a transplant to save her life. Chemu, who had joined the bone marrow registry a year prior during his enlistment in the IDF, was found to be the only donor perfectly matched to save her life.
He was enthusiastic about the life-saving mission and immediately started the expedited testing process for the transplant. On October 7, he was supposed to begin the preparation process for the donation. With the outbreak of war on Simchat Torah morning, Daniel fought in Sderot, Be'eri, and the Supernova festival site in Re'im. The fighting continued, and the transplant, which was supposed to take place a few days later, was postponed.
Due to the urgency and concern for the patient's life, the organization exerted round-the-clock effort to work to secure the soldier's release for the donation. With the help of Ezer Mizion, they managed to contact his commanders in the field, who immediately understood the tremendous importance of saving lives and released Daniel for the donation. Ultimately, on October 26, Chemu arrived at the organization's facility and donated bone marrow to a woman he did not know.
Daniel said after the donation: "I have the privilege, even as a soldier, to save lives. You ask how much I can save lives as an individual, and here there's the combination of both the fighter and saving lives which is something really tangible.''
The director of the National Bone Marrow Registry, Dr. Bracha Zisser, commented: "Even as Daniel fought on the battlefield- he did not give up the opportunity to save a life that came his way. In the midst of the war, when we approached his commanders- they immediately understood the great significance of donation and the process began. Representatives of the organization visited him to explain the procedure to him and accompany him medically. Later he came to our collection center in Petah Tikva. We met a smiling, good-natured young man, happy to do good for others. Daniel, of blessed memory fell in battle, but his life will continue in the woman he saved."