Over the past 25 years, Israeli NGO Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) along with the medical team at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon have provided life-saving treatment to thousands of children from around the world. Despite the travel limitations caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, this year has been no different, and on Friday, six-year old Benjamin from Ethiopia landed in Israel for urgent cardiac treatment.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Save a Child’s Heart has continued in its mission of saving lives, conducting its activities in accordance with the Health Ministry’s guidelines. This work was made more difficult by the implementation of the “closed skies” policy, and ultimately the shutting down of Ben Gurion Airport in January, with the aim of curbing the spread of COVID variants. In spite of these restrictions, Save a Child’s Heart continued to work to save lives, providing the Ministry of Health with requests on behalf of a number of critically ill patients who require immediate treatment.
Benjamin arrived in Israel on Friday. Although not part of the group emigrating to Israel, he was able to join a Jewish Agency immigration flight from Ethiopia. Today he is hosted at the organization’s Legacy Heritage Children’s home, a place for Benjamin to be enveloped with warmth and love during his medical treatment and stay in Israel. He is currently undergoing an initial examination which will enable doctors to determine the appropriate treatment and next steps.
The image of Benjamin walking down the airplane steps at the height of a pandemic, captures the essence of Save a Child’s Heart. The organization expresses its gratitude to the Ministry of Health, Jewish Agency, Ministry of Immigration and Absorption, Ministry of Interior Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Regional Cooperation and Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, for their exceptional and prompt responses to this request to save a young life.
About Save a Child’s Heart:
Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) is a humanitarian organization, based in Israel, working internationally to save the lives of children in partner countries suffering from heart disease. Founded at the Wolfson Medical Center in 1995, Save a Child’s Heart has saved the lives of more than 5,700 children from 62 countries and has more than 140 local healthcare professionals to Israel for training so they can treat their own children independently and create centers of excellence in their home countries.
The core value of Save a Child’s Heart is Tikkun Olam - doing good to repair the world and believing that every child deserves the best medical care, regardless of race, religion, gender, nationality or financial status.
