The National Transplant Center announced today (Sunday) that the family of Arbel Ori Hoffman, a 4-year-old girl from the community of Tekuma, decided to donate her organs following her death.
Arbel was critically injured in a traffic accident that occurred about two weeks ago on Friday between the Shorashim and Kiryat Gat Interchanges, and she was pronounced dead at the hospital last week.
The donation led to the saving of four lives, including a rare "domino" liver transplant, which is performed only once every several years.
As part of the donation, a liver was transplanted into a 10-year-old girl, and two kidneys were transplanted into two 14-year-old patients - a boy and a girl. The three procedures were carried out at Schneider Children's Medical Center.
Following the liver transplant, it was also possible to perform a "domino" liver transplant. The 10-year-old girl who received the liver suffers from a metabolic disease, due to which her liver is unsuitable for continued function in her own body, but it can function normally in a person who does not suffer from the disease.
The liver was transplanted into a 44-year-old woman at Rabin Medical Center's Beilinson Hospital, who was found suitable in terms of her medical condition and body size.
Director of the National Transplant Center Dr. Tamar Ashkenazi said: "A domino transplant requires special preparation of operating rooms and medical teams, precise scheduling, and matching body sizes."
She added: "In this donation, it was necessary to find a suitable candidate in terms of size and medical condition to receive a liver from a 10-year-old donor. Fortunately, a patient was found who successfully underwent the domino transplant."
Yaakov and Hila Hoffman, Arbel's parents, said that the decision to donate her organs was made out of a desire "that the light of our Arbel continues to shine and bring goodness even after her passing," adding that it gives them "strength and a small measure of comfort."
The parents added: "Our Arbel Ori was a girl who was pure goodness, with a wide heart and a radiant face. Arbel always looked for ways to help, to give to others, and to share endless love with her family and friends. Her great kindness, her shining eyes, and her glowing smile earned her the nickname 'Sun.' Arbel was the sun of the family, her friends, and everyone who met her."