Families. They’re there for each other, sharing the good times, sharing the bad times. The family unit grows. By birth, by marriage and sometimes by reaching out and giving of one’s self, drawing a stranger into the family circle of warmth as she becomes part of you and you become part of her.
Liri was a tiny tot, just one day after her first birthday when Sharon, her mother, received the diagnosis. Rare disease. Life threatening. Life threatening? What does that mean? The young mother was unable to process the implication of the words. That her baby was seriously ill. That she may…
She grasped at the straw her doctor held out. A bone marrow transplant could save her. But every week there were ads about a patient looking for a genetically suitable donor and, so far, unable to find one. She tried to hold tight to the hope but reality told her otherwise.
Sagi was still in his teens when he began volunteering to visit children in the pediatric oncology ward. It was there that he came in contact with the work of Ezer Mizion as they ran drives to enlarge the bone marrow registry. It was then that Sagi proudly joined the registry as a potential donor.
While Sharon was crying non-stop at what appeared to be a hopeless situation, Sagi was rolling up his sleeve to be tested.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she joyously told the Ezer Mizion staff. “Almost immediately after my doctor requested it, a match was found!”
Suddenly Liri had a future. And her future was now entwined with Sagi and his family. For the past twenty years, the two families blended into one, sharing each other’s milestones. Liri was a bridesmaid at Sagi’s wedding. Both were highly involved in the war, Sagi rehabilitating wounded soldiers and Liri on Israel’s major radio station compassionately interviewing those who needed to tell their traumatizing story of October 7th. Sagi and Liri shared their thoughts and feelings with the other. Small ups and downs and big ones—they were connected.
Déjà vu. They meet again in the same place as that momentous event had occurred, where Sagi’s blood became Liri’s blood and gave her life. This time, they were joined by Shahar, Sagi’s nephew. “I grew up hearing the story of how my uncle saved Liri’s life. Liri has been part of the family since I was born. There was no doubt that I would say yes when it was my turn.” When he enlisted in the IDF, Shahar joined the bone marrow registry as part of the enlistment chain at the recruitment office. Seven years after he joined the registry, he received a surprising call while on vacation abroad. After the initial moment of shock, he readily agreed to save the life of a woman in her fifties suffering from leukemia. Two days after the donation, he was back in the hospital, this time to welcome his first child into the world.
And so the family continues to expand, some by birth, some by marriage and some by blood, a circle of caring, knitted together by stitches of love.
