Hadassah medical team was able to fly a bone marrow donation to a six-month-old baby, despite the closure of European borders • The baby was undergoing chemotherapy and was in danger

• The baby and his mother together with Prof. Polina Stefanski, director of the bone marrow transplant department in Hadassah Ein Kerem // Photo: Hadassah spokesmen

Transplant against all odds: A rare case occurred recently at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, when the Bezeq operation brought a bone marrow donation to a half-year-old baby suffering from a rare disease, despite the closure of the borders due to the Corona crisis. 

As the Corona virus spread, many countries closed their doors one after the other, and medical staff at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital had to go on an operation to bring the bone marrow donation from abroad for a baby about six months old to save his life. 

"About two months ago, a six-month-old baby came to us for a diagnosis of a rare genetic disease called osteopterosis," says Prof. Polina Stefanski, director of the bone marrow transplant department in Hadassah Ein Kerem for children and adults, the unbelievable story. Impaired vision to blindness and hardening of bones, leading to death. After our diagnosis, we knew that the only solution to saving his life was a bone marrow transplant - otherwise his life was in real danger. We started looking for a bone marrow donation from a foreign donor. "   

"The boy is the first child of a young family, and we felt a huge commitment towards them. When we found out that it was a donor it was right when the Corona virus was gaining momentum in the world, but for a moment we did not dream of closing boundaries and started preparing the baby for donation, "says Prof. Stephanski.   

"He received chemotherapy, which caused bone marrow and immune system destruction, as a normal process for preparation for transplant - but then the boundaries started to close and the clock began to tick. Bone marrow pumping and transplantation should be done within a few hours, then transplantation cannot be done. We know that within the hours of transplantation with us, but what happened to us this time is an event we never encountered: the implant had to make its way to Israel quickly through Germany and then we learned that Germany had closed borders, so we decided to pass it through France - and then France closed borders, finally the donation came In the middle of the night through London. "   

"Aliza Nagler, our bone marrow transplant coordinator in Hadassah, worked with anyone who was only possible to make the donation on time, and the word time was critical. From the moment we prepared the baby for transplant and his immune system was destroyed, we have up to 48 hours to do the transplant, if not "We all know what the expected end is."   

When the donation landed in Israel, Issa Grave, a bone marrow transplant department, traveled in the middle of the night, fully equipped to bring the donation from the airport in full coordination with the Ministry of Health. The race to save the baby's life continued, and when the donation came to Dr. Imad Hakim from the cell processing lab and performed the implant preparation process to provide the patient. 

The medical staff worked well and the transplant was done in the middle of the night so as not to lose valuable time. To the delight of the medical staff, bone marrow was absorbed and the baby felt good. Professor Stephansky concluded: 'We are very happy. With due respect to Corona, we continue to perform life-saving procedures, and do not stop for a moment. The corona charges enough victims and we can't afford it to cost more patients in their lives. "