Israel: Four saved in organ transplant marathon within less than 24 hours

In order to carry out four complex transplant surgeries consecutively within such a short period of time, extraordinary coordination by hospital teams was required.

By JNS

Three children and a woman from across Israel were saved thanks to organ donations in a transplant marathon that took place on a single day last week at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva.

A liver was transplanted into a girl, 9; one kidney was transplanted into a woman, 18, and a second into a boy, 2.5, Israel’s Clalit Health Services healthcare provider said on Sunday.

In addition, a heart transplant was performed to save the life of a 3.5-year-old. The transplant procedures were carried out one after another in Schneider’s operating room complex, according to Clalit.

“Schneider conducted an important and emotional transplant marathon that gave life to four children. We are deeply proud of the privilege of taking part in saving lives. We share in the grief of the bereaved family, and thank them from the bottom of our hearts for this noble act of generosity during their most difficult hour,” Schneider Children’s Medical Center CEO Dr. Efrat Bron Harlev was quoted as saying.

Daniel, the father of the nine-year-old girl, named Noor, expressed his “deepest gratitude” to the family of the daughter whose organ saved his daughter’s life.

“Although their daughter’s life was cut short, she gave life to my daughter, who has suffered greatly for more than four years through difficult dialysis treatments and had already lost hope. Know that every breath and every heartbeat of Noor exist only because of you. A part of your daughter will live in our daughter forever, and therefore, in our eyes, she is also your daughter. We embrace you and would be honored to meet when the time is right,” Daniel was cited as saying by Clalit.

In order to carry out four complex transplant surgeries consecutively within such a short period of time, extraordinary coordination by hospital teams was required, including the operating room division, pediatric transplant surgeons, cardiology teams, anesthesia teams, ultrasound unit staff, operating room nursing teams, the intensive care unit and more, the statement further read.

Since Schneider Children’s Medical Center’s establishment, hundreds of organ transplants have been performed there in infants, children and adolescents, including heart, lung, liver and kidney transplants, with success rates comparable to the world’s leading medical centers.

It is among the few pediatric hospitals in the world equipped to perform multiple organ transplants at once.