3,000th Palestinian child receives Save a Child’s Heart lifesaving surgery in Israel

A five-year-old Palestinian child has become the 3,000th to receive lifesaving surgery from Israeli humanitarian organisation Save a Child’s Heart.

Amir Yahya Mabukh from Jabalia near Gaza City was brought to the Wolfson Medical Centre in Holon for the operation. At the age of just two months, Amir caught a virus, identified by the local family doctor as a heart defect resulting from a blockage in one of his coronary arteries. It meant he couldn’t have a normal childhood; running was out of the question and walking and playing with friends strictly limited, as they put his heart under potentially life-threatening strain.

Amir’s doctor told the family about Save a Child’s Heart, which brings children from the Gaza Strip and West Bank to Israel for life-saving operations.

Amir’s mother said: “Everyone in Gaza talks about how Israeli doctors are the most professional in the world and that they can be trusted completely.”

The operation was performed by Dr Hagi Dekel, director of cardiothoracic surgery and his team at Wolfson Medical Centre. Amir is recovering at the hospital’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Amir’s grandmother says he has received a new chance of life: “I did not imagine he would receive it from these people in this place. Everything becomes unimportant when you are saving a child’s life. Borders don’t matter, politics is not important. His health and his life are beyond everything”.

Tamar Shapira, deputy director at SACHS says that every child deserves the best medical care, regardless of race, religion, gender or nationality. “We have been saving lives of Palestinian children for more than 20 years, and I always say that if in addition to saving them and giving hope to their families we manage to build bridges between people and make this world a better place – this is a very important benefit for all of us.”