IDF Sgt. Daniel Chemu, 20, from Tiberias, was prone to saving lives – both on and off the battlefield.
A soldier in Battalion 202, Paratroopers Brigade, Chemu and was killed, along with four other soldiers, in a friendly fire incident on Wednesday. Seven other soldiers were injured.
Two IDF tanks fired on a forward IDF battalion headquarters in Jabalya in northern Gaza. The tanks were said to be under extreme pressure from dozens of rocket-propelled grenade attacks in the area.
Chemu, just before the war broke out, donated bone marrow, saving the life of a woman in desperate need of a transplant, according to Ezer Mizion, the Israeli health support organization, which revealed the news Thursday shortly after the announcement of his death.
A few days before the outbreak of the war, Chemu received a call from Ezer Mizion telling him that he had been found suitable for donating bone marrow to a woman in her 60s who urgently needed a transplant to save her life.
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Having joined the bone marrow pool when he enlisted in the IDF about a year ago, he was found to be the only donor suitable for her, with a 100% match.
He immediately began all the preparatory tests needed before a transplant. He was supposed to begin the preparatory procedure on October 7 when Hamas terrorists massacred Israelis in southern Israel.
Without a moment of hesitation
He fought in Sderot that day, as well as Kibbutz Be’eri and at the Nova rave party. The transplant was consequently postponed.
Due to the urgency and fear for the patient’s life, Ezer Mizion worked against the clock to secure the soldier’s release so that he could donate. The association managed to contact his commanders in the field, who understood the enormous importance of saving lives and released Chemu for the sake of the donation.
On October 26, Chemu arrived at the organization’s Oranit branch and donated bone marrow to a woman he had never met.
“Daniel fell in battle, but his life will continue to exist with the woman he saved,” Ezer Mizion said in a statement released shortly after the announcement of his death.
The other four soldiers killed on Wednesday morning were Sgt. Roy Beit Yaakov, 22, a combat officer from Eli; Sgt. Ilan Cohen, 20, a foot soldier from Karmiel; Staff Sgt. Gilad Arye Boim, 22, a soldier from Karnei Shomron; and Staff Sgt. Betzlel David Shashuah, 21, a soldier from Tel Aviv. All five belonged to Battalion 202, Paratroopers Brigade.