An emotional meeting took place at Ezer Mizion’s “Oranit” cancer patient guest home and support center, between an IDF soldier who donated bone marrow and the woman whose life he saved, a resident of Brooklyn who came to visit Israel.
About two years ago, A., a soldier in a classified unit in the IDF Intelligence Unit, received a phone call from Ezer Mizion’s Bone Marrow Donor Registry informing him that he had been found to be a perfect genetic match for Chava Rivky Amsel, a woman in her forties and mother of five from Brooklyn. Amsel had leukemia and urgently needed a matching stem cell donor for a transplant.
After six months, she needed another transplant and he came again to donate. The donations were sent by Ezer Mizion to the United States – and Chava Rivki's life was saved.
Now, the woman came to visit Israel and they met for the first time – and the excitement was at its peak.
Amsel thanked A. (who came with his parents) and spoke about the great significance of the transplant to her and to her entire family – "So my five children wrote you letters, even the five-year-old, to thank you for your enormous gift that saved my life. My husband and I don't know how to show you how grateful we are for the great gift you have given us – time for me to live with my family and children, time for us to be together."
Amsel gifted her donor with a watch and explained the choice: "We bought this watch for you – I know that anything we will buy for you won’t come close to what you have given to us. But this is for you. It represents the gift of time. I want this gift to be personal and meaningful for you. I hope it helps you know how much we appreciate the gift of time that you have given us."
A., who joined Ezer Mizion’s bone marrow registry when he was recruited into the army, shared about the process of donating stem cells and the great satisfaction of the privilege of saving lives. "It was a matter of five minutes for me when I joined the registry. I went on with my life, and then after two months, I received a call that I was a match and suited to donate to a person who really needed my stem cells. Every opportunity I have to save a life, I am happy to take it personally."
Dr. Bracha Zisser, Director of Ezer Mizion’s Bone Marrow Registry: "It’s amazing once again to see how through a relatively simple procedure it’s possible to save lives, to see an entire family winning a mother for the second time, and to be moved with a donor who is gratified and appreciates the great privilege of saving lives."
