8 Days – 8 Miracles Amidst the Pain

April 5, 2024

The tragedies of this war have also brought miracles to some.

Sgt. First Class Sivan Weil of the Egoz unit was from Ra’anana.

He was badly wounded in the Khan Younis area of the southern Gaza Strip on Friday and died in Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba on Sunday. His parents honored his wishes and had his organs donated to those on the transplant waiting list.

At Sheba Medical Center Sivan’s heart was transplanted into a 45-year-old man and his lungs into a 37-year-old man. His transplant decision saved multiple lives and his sacrifice for all of us cannot be measured.

The last 8 days saw a remarkable level of transplant activity, in particular in the kidney transplant department.

The team at the Sheba Kidney Transplant Center recorded an extraordinary achievement: seven kidney transplants were performed in only eight days, bringing new hope to the lives of seven patients. Out of the seven transplants, two recipients were on the transplant waiting list for six years.

Prof. Eitan Mor, Director of the Kidney Transplantation Center, his deputy Dr. Ronan Guinea, and the entire team demonstrated exceptional dedication, professionalism and commitment, and produced amazing results.

Underlining the power and importance of organ donation and transplant, Prof. Mor got together with a former patient, Amir Barik, who underwent a kidney transplant at Sheba in November 2020. The two ran together in a race held last Friday in collaboration with the Gift of Life – Kidney Transplants Association and presented a powerful example of the gift of life represented by organ donation.

This war is incurring terrible and indescribable losses for families across Israel. But the amazing decisions of some and the skills of a small group of surgeons, mean that life can emerge from the darkness.

Am Yisrael Chai, and may all those who loved Sivan Weil be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

Brian

P.S. We have partnered with the organization Ematai to support organ donation, which is encouraged by Jewish law. If you are not a donor, please consider becoming one. More information can be found here.