‘Lucy Dee gave me life’ – Deeply grateful mum-of-two receives heart transplant

The mother of two who received Lucy’s Dee’s heart in a life-saving operation last week has told Jewish News she can’t wait to hug Lucy’s husband and surviving children.

Lital Valenci, 51, who suffered from severe heart failure for five years, waited eight agonising months for a new heart, with doctors warning she had months to live without a transplant.

But last Wednesday at Beilinson Hospital, she was given a lifeline after the Dee family decided to donate Lucy’s organs to five patients in urgent need of intervention. The mum-of-five, originally from the UK, was murdered with two of her daughters, Maia and Rina as the family set off on a Pesach trip.

‘There is no greater deed than giving life to someone and Lucy Dee has done that for me,” Lital told Jewish News in an exclusive interview as she recuperates at home.

“I felt very thankful, relieved and happy but also understand that while this has given me an opportunity, it also comes with sadness for the family who lost their wife and mother. There are no appropriate words for the amount of thanks that I feel.”

Prior to the transplant, Valenci, a former pro basketball player, said she was struggling with simple tasks such as going up the stairs. “The heart isn’t like the kidney where there can be a living donor and that weighed on my mind right away knowing that my only chance of living would involve heartbreak for another family.”

While she is still feeling weak and in pain, Valenci said she is “very strong mentally and a “focused person”.

While she said it was too soon to be in touch with the Dees as they recover from “unimaginable loss” and her from surgery, she added: “I want to meet them once we have each had time to process what has happened. I want to thank them and to hug them and let them know that while I am so thankful for this new heart, I also cry with them for their loss.”

Valenci said the experience reminded her what is important in life; health and family.

“It has reminded me of the value of giving. Organ donation isn’t just a word or a dream for me anymore, it has real meaning. I will forever be thankful to Lucy Dee and her family that during the most tragic time of their lives, they thought to help others. That person is me and each day, I will live in thanks.”

Prof Dan Aravot, Head of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department who conducted the surgery, said: “From one mother to another, Lital will now be able to watch her children grow up because of Lucy Dee and the decision her family made to donate her heart. Lital and others have a new lease on life because of this ultimate act of Chesed from the Dee family.

“At Beilinson Hospital, we conduct 70% of Israel’s transplant surgeries. This last month has been particularly rattling for my team and I as this was the second heart that we transplanted in the past week following another horrific terror attack.”