When the light is out in your living room, what do you do? Simple. Just flick a switch. What about when the light is out in the eyes of a heroic 12 year old girl? That’s much harder. But that’s what Ezer Mizion is there for and, once again, the Linked to Life network rallied and the light went on. 1000 watts! She had been battling cancer for what seemed to her and her family to be eons. They handled each problem as it came with trust in G-d. Some were harder than others. Recently it became necessary for this young child to have her leg amputated. They understood. It would save her life. But it was so hard. To think of her living for the rest of her life – may it be many, many years – missing a leg! While still in the throes of dealing with this devastating catastrophe, the calendar informed them that her bas mitzvah had arrived. The prime ingredient of a celebration is smiles. And, at this time, there were none to be had. That’s when the Ezer Mizion Linked to Life network was informed and a post went out. “Today we are going to restore light to the girl’s eyes. Today, she will go to sleep happy and content… with a wide smile, and will wake up with a lot of strength to keep going.” And then it began to pour. Her home was flooded. A stunning Bas Mitzvah cake. Goodies galore. Balloons with grinning emojis and encouraging messages. Gifts and gifts and more gifts. It was a major storm of caring and support. And suddenly the smiles abounded. They’d make it through. Now they knew they would. Vitamin Encouragement is a strong medication.
Yael is another young girl engaged in the same war. Like any other17 year old girl, she has dreams. It’s so hard to hold onto dreams when so many of her days are spent in a hospital setting but Yael doesn’t give up. She studies hard for her matriculation exams. Some days giggling with a friend and some days attached to an IV pole. She is determined, our Yael. Determined to have the best possible future. And in her busy life, she makes a place for fun also. Meir Odesser is one of those talented people who can bring joy to the most depressed. He comes regularly to Ezer Mizion and puts on a fantastic show of twisting balloons into animals and the like. Yael loves the show but she wants more. She wants to learn how to do it herself. Meir was thrilled to bring added happiness to this special girl and spends hours giving lessons and, most importantly, blowing a surge of optimism into each and every balloon.
Ezer Mizion provides services to over 660,000 of Israel’s population annually in addition to its Bone Marrow Registry which saves the lives of Jewish cancer patients the world over.
