Staff Sergeant (Res.) Effi (Efraim) Ben-Yakar, 32, a reservist in a special IDF forces unit who was called up under Tzav 8 (an immediate draft order) at the outbreak of the war, collapsed at his home during a short rest leave due to cardiac arrest.
He was rushed to Ichilov Hospital in serious condition, and despite the efforts of the medical team, he passed away about two weeks later.
He is survived by his parents, Theodora and Edmond, a twin brother, and two sisters, and he was scheduled to marry his fiancée Noa in August.
The National Transplant Center reported that Ben-Yakar was registered as an organ donor and had expressed his wish to donate his organs. In his passing, he saved the lives of four people: his lungs were transplanted into a 38-year-old woman at Sheba Medical Center; his liver was transplanted into a 71-year-old man at Hadassah Hospital; and his kidneys were transplanted into two patients - a 40-year-old man at Ichilov, and the other, a 64-year-old man at Beilinson Hospital.