(Communicated by the Schneider Children's Medical Center Spokesperson)
A ten-year-old Palestinian boy, today (Sunday, 2 June 2013), received new life thanks to a kidney transplant. The operation was carried out at the Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel. The boy, who suffered from kidney dysfunction, was undergoing dialysis and had been waiting for a kidney transplant. The boy is recovery in the ICU; he is in stable condition.
The transplant operation was carried out by a Schneider team headed by Prof. Eitan Mor and which included: Dr. Sigal Eisner, Dr Omer Gogia and anesthesiologist Dr. Meshulam Behar. After the surgery, the child was moved to the ICU.
The father of the boy said that he had no words to thank the Jewish donor's family and noted that, after many years waiting for a transplant, his son was receiving new life.
In a phone conversation with the donor's parents, President Shimon Peres said: “According to Jewish tradition, every person is created in God’s image, and whoever saves a human being serves the essence of Judaism. You have made all of us proud.”
The Schneider Children's Medical Center performs most organ transplants on children of all ages in Israel - a total of about 400 heart, lung, liver and kidney transplants with success rates comparable to the best transplant centers abroad.
10-year-old Yakoub Ibhisad with Sarit Naor, the two fathers, and Prof. Joseph Press, Director of the Schneider Children's Medical Center
(Copyright: Schneider Children's Medical Center Spokesperson)
On Thursday, June 13, the parents who donated the kidney of their late son Noam met with the 10-year-old Palestinian boy, Yakoub Ibhisad, who received the organ, together with his parents.
Sarit Naor, Noam's mother, said: "To see Yakoub today is a great joy. I wish him the best of health, which he has not enjoyed for the last six years. It is a supreme joy and consolation to me, and I feel as though Noam is still alive." Suheila, Yakoub's mother, replied: "I thank the family with all my heart."
Prof. Eitan Mor, director of the transplant unit at the Schneider Children's Medical Center, said: "We doctors who carry out organ transplants know that behind every organ donation to a child is a very painful human story, like yours. I greatly respect and appreciate what you have done. It is thanks to people like you, with a rare sense of humanity and unconditional willingness to give, that we can save children's lives."