During an operational activity in the heart of Gaza, Matan Amir, a fighter in the Givati Brigade, was found to be a match for a bone marrow donation at Hadassah. Matan immediately arrived at the hospital and saved the life of a 3-year-old toddler. "The contribution didn't require much, the result is totally worth it."
In these days, as Matan Amir finds himself in the midst of the intense fighting in the heart of Gaza, all his attention is focused on the actions in the battlefields and the detailed operational plans according to which the unit's team operates. The 21-year-old soldier did not imagine that he would suddenly be called for an urgent life-saving mission from the Eli Elkobi Memorial Bone Marrow Donor Registry at Hadassah, in addition to the one he is performing in his military service.
Due to the disconnection from mobile phones during the days of fighting, reaching the soldier was more complicated for the bone marrow transplant coordinator from Hadassah. However, the experience gained by the Hadassah Bone Marrow Registry team named after Eli Elkobi with the fighters in the field shows that anything is possible. Even if they are deep inside Gaza.
"Even at the beginning of their military service, already during the selection process at the IDF recruitment center (the IDF's reception and selection base), soldiers are given the opportunity to donate a saliva sample for tissue typing, the result of which will be entered into the Eli Elkobi Memorial Bone Marrow Registry at Hadassah," says Tzila Bergil Ben Hanan, a coordinator for locating bone marrow transplant donors at Hadassah Ein Kerem.
The sample is preserved for many years in the Hadassah database and serves as a future option for any of the soldiers to save lives. "If there is a patient who is highly compatible with the potential donor, we contact them and check if they are interested in donating in the process that takes place at the hospital," says Tzila.
"The Hadassah Bone Marrow Donor Registry in memory of Eli Elkobi, may his memory be a blessing, has an agreement with the IDF, and on enlistment day, we sample the soldiers who wish to join the life-saving registry." At the induction base where all IDF soldiers arrive on enlistment day, the vast majority respond positively and with great goodwill to provide the sample. Two months ago, a medical center in the country contacted the bone marrow registry at Hadassah, requesting a bone marrow donation for a three-year-old child suffering from blood cancer. The request was precise and directed at Matan Amir, after it was found in the data checks that Matan is genetically suitable for the toddler.
Matan left Gaza and immediately decided to donate bone marrow.
At this stage, the database team has begun efforts to reach Matan, who usually resides in the settlement of Nitzan, and is attempting to contact him through various means available to the searchers in the donor database, including reaching out to his commanders as part of the effective cooperation between the database team and the IDF. "I left Gaza, opened my phone, and saw messages from a bone marrow donor registry at Hadassah," says Matan. I got back to her and we talked, she explained to me what it was about and what process I would have to go through if I decided to donate bone marrow. I immediately agreed, I told her right away that of course I would do it. I didn't see it as a difficult or complex story.
"I had no doubts because I thought about the significance of the donation," says Matan, "I didn't have much to deliberate, after all, it's about saving a person's life, and in my case, the life of a small child." In moments like these, there is no hesitation at all.
"The contribution didn't require much, the result is totally worth it."
After the explanatory meeting and several blood tests that examine the compatibility thoroughly and completely, Matan arrived at Hadassah Ein Kerem to perform the bone marrow donation. "The process itself went without any problems or difficulties," he says, "it hurt just a little, nothing special." After the donation, the procedure side-lined me for a week in terms of sports activity, but it's really not that bad, overall," he says, "the goal is what matters, not some temporary limitation of mine. What helped along the way was the support of the team here. The care, attention, and detailed explanations I received here at Hadassah make the understanding and execution of the process easier.
The identity of the child to whom Matan donated is confidential for now, but any donor can meet with the recipient after a year, provided both parties wish to do so. When Matan is asked if he would indeed like to meet the three-year-old boy, he answers decisively: "Of course I would be happy to meet him, if he wants." For me, the contribution didn't require much, the result is totally worth it.
