{"id":523,"date":"2013-06-26T12:06:50","date_gmt":"2013-06-26T16:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ezermizionusa.org\/blog\/?p=523"},"modified":"2013-09-11T16:42:14","modified_gmt":"2013-09-11T20:42:14","slug":"one-of-the-lucky-ones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/one-of-the-lucky-ones\/","title":{"rendered":"One of the Lucky Ones"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"pr<\/span>Shahar patted her hair. She wanted to look especially nice. The hair was new. It has just grown to normal length. Last year, she didn\u2019t have any at all. Last year she had been fighting for her life. She brushed a lock from her forehead, trying to brush away the memories of the nightmare last year at the same time. It was all o<\/span>ver now. She had a bone marrow transplant. She was one of the lucky ones. Ezer Mizion\u2019s Bone Marrow Registry had a perfect genetic match for her. And now she was about to meet him-the one who saved her life.
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She ran a comb through her precious hair once again as the door opened. He entered. He was young. Only twenty two. There he stood in his khaki uniform and red beret.\u00a0 <\/span>He had registered with Ezer Mizion when he was inducted into the IDF, never thinking that he would really have the opportunity to save a life. Like one person, they all stood up—Shahar\u2019s twin sister, her older brother, her parents, her grandmother. Her father ran to meet him and the two men hugged and cried. Words? What can you say to the person who had saved your daughter\u2019s life?<\/span><\/p>\n

Grandma Geulah goes up to S., places her hands over his head, blesses him, and presents him with a gift. \u201cHow I waited to see you,\u201d she whispers in a trembling voice. \u201cI just had to meet this good soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

It all started in May 2010, when seven-year-old Shahar, was playing with her friends and came home with a black-and-blue mark. \u201cI thought she just got a bang while playing,\u201d relates Arlene. \u201cBut the next morning, her entire body was full of suspicious black-and-blue marks. After some tests at the Emergency Room, we received the diagnosis: Shahar had aplastic anemia, a disease in which the bone marrow does not produce enough blood cells. The condition can lead to collapse of the immune system \u2026and to death.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShahar understood that that she had a serious illness and had to take care of herself, but sometimes she had moments of crisis. We bought her this kind of secret pillow with a pocket where she could put pages and then close it with a zipper and a lock. She would sometimes go to her room, write something and put it inside. To this day, she doesn\u2019t let us look at what she has there.\u201d<\/p>\n

On December 20, 2011, the first night of Chanukah, the new, healthy stem cells were injected into Shahar\u2019s little body.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

And now she presented her gift to the young soldier who had given her the greatest gift possible-a drawing straight from her young, innocent heart.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

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Shahar\u2019s parents tell S. that their eldest son, Segev, was drafted into the IDF a month before. \u201cI hope that the sample he gave in at the Induction Center will be a good match for someone,\u201d says Arlene. \u201cIf that happens, I\u2019ll feel that we closed the circle.\u201d<\/p>\n

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