The corneas from the eyes of 21-year-old Staff Sergeant Ido Baruch, the Givati Brigade soldier from Gedera who was killed in a terrorist attack near the settlement of Shavei Shomron last week, were transplanted on Sunday into the eyes of two elderly patients.
The two recipients, both in their 80s, were Binyamin Goren and Aviva Ra’anan, whose new corneas restored their sight.
Rachel Va’anunu, the transplant coordinator at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, where the operations were performed, said: “We told the transplant recipients who was the donor that gave them the corneas with which they will be able to see again, and we saw the excitement and sadness on their faces.
“They were moved by the noble act of the family that chose to give a better life to others in such a difficult and painful moment for them.”
“We told the transplant recipients who were the donor who gave them the corneas with which they will be able to see again and we saw the excitement and sadness on their faces."
Rachel Va’anunu
Organ transplants in Israel
The national organ transplant center said that about 1,000 Israelis are waiting for organ transplants, stating that “organ donation is an expression of social solidarity at the highest level among humanity.”
“Today, about a thousand people in the State of Israel are waiting for transplants. Organ donation is an expression of social solidarity at the highest level among humanity.”