\nIf Amit\u2019s face looks familiar, it is because Amit was the poster child in the huge campaign organized by Ezer Mizion to stimulate an influx of new bone marrow registrants. That da
![\"pr](\"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/pr-amit-kodosh-bat-mitzvah-pre.jpg\")
y 64,000 (!) samples were collected to be genetically tested. Countless families, including Amit\u2019s, held their collective breath, praying that one of the new registrants would be a perfect DNA match for their loved one. Thanks to those samples, more than a hundred life-saving bone marrow transplants have taken place.\nNo matching sample was found for Amit in Israel, but her parents refused to give up. With the help of Ezer Mizion, a partial match was found in the US. They packed their life up and flew to Duke University Hospital. \u201cWe had some really tough days,\u201d her father reported then, \u201cbut she fought like a tiger.\u201d
\nAmit\u2019s Bat Mitzvah was celebrated together with hundreds of guests, including medical staff who had cared for her during her illness. Everyone smothered her with hugs and kisses and cheered for their heroine.
\nAmit, clad in a majestic, white gown, a sparkling tiara in her hair, did not stop smiling. \u201cI am so excited,\u201d she said, and the tears in the hall began flowing. \u201cThe years of my illness were years of weakness and pain. Many of you helped me get through them \u2013 and for that, I thank you. During my illness, I needed tons of help. I tried to do it on my own. Sometimes I succeeded and sometimes not. But my parents fought for my recovery. My big brother Omer also helped a lot. He always cheered me up and gave me the good feeling that there was someone who understood me. It is thanks to them that I am here today, celebrating my happy occasion with you.\u201d
![\"pr](\"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/pr-Amit-Kodosh-Bat-Mitzvah.jpg\")
<\/a>\nAmit had a message to convey: \u201cIt is important for me to tell all the sick children out there not to give in to disease. Keep fighting with all you\u2019ve got, because in the end, you will win. I had some hard times, but I got over them. Today I am a regular kid in Junior High, and aside from being careful to drink only mineral water and to use sunglasses, I have no restrictions that remind me I was once sick.\u201d
\n\u201cAt one point in the treatments, I wanted to give up. I just couldn\u2019t take it anymore. Then my parents flew my best friend out to Duke. She told me that I had to fight. If I wouldn\u2019t fight, I wouldn\u2019t get to my Bat Mitzvah. That gave me the push to keep going. And here I am\u2013 I made it! This is a very moving moment for me.\u201d
\nAmit\u2019s father Yuval, who now counsels families who are in a similar situation, could barely conceal his deep emotion at the event, and likewise her mother, Naomi, and brother, Omer (14). \u201cWe are all thrilled,\u201d Yuval said. \u201cI love you so much, my beloved daughter, and there is no way to describe what I am feeling now. We wish you a happy, healthy, good life and that G-d should watch over you. Grow and flourish, and always remember that Ima and Abba will be here for you, no matter where and no matter what. Nothing in the world can stand in your way.\u201d
\nTurning to the large crowd, Yuval said, \u201cWhen we set out on the campaign to save Amit\u2019s life, we chose the slogan, \u2018We are all one family!\u2019 Every day we got to know more new \u2018family members,\u2019 good-hearted people who were ready to turn over worlds to help and support us and bring Amit to recovery.
\nIf it were up to me, I would invite to this celebration all 64,000 people who stood on line to donate samples the day of Ezer Mizion\u2019s campaign, all 18,000 soldiers who donated at the various army bases, all 13,000 volunteers who put the unprecedented campaign together, all the hundreds of thousands of people who donated a total of 14 million NIS so that the samples could be processed, vastly enlarging the bone marrow registry plus all those people who didn\u2019t forget us when we went to the U.S. and sent us packages with goodies and encouraging letters. I want to tell all you wonderful people today a huge thank you. This feeling of brotherhood is unique to our people.
\n\u201cI prayed that we would come home with Amit on her feet and we did. I prayed that we would dance at her Bat Mitzvah party \u2013 and today we are here. With G-d\u2019s help, we hope to see each one of you at her wedding too!\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Based on articles in: Yedi\u2019ot Acharonot Nov. 18, 2014 By: Noam Barkan and Eitan Glickman, and Yisrael Hayom Nov. 18, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[366,368,10,4,7,367,37,218,11],"class_list":["post-2820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bone-marrow-registry","tag-amit","tag-bat-mitzvah","tag-bone-marrow","tag-cancer","tag-israel","tag-kodosh","tag-leukemia","tag-regisitry","tag-transplant"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2820"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2832,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2820\/revisions\/2832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"