Noga Adi (12) was born with a medical problem that required two weekly blood tests in her early years. Thus began a long-standing acquaintance with Najua Shehadeh, a dedicated laboratory manager of Maccabi Health Services in Kiryat Motzkin. "We met by chance when Noga was a month old, we immediately fell in love. Najua conveyed to Venus and us her optimism and softness. Already as a baby, Noga was affected by her attitude and stopped crying from the blood tests, shared Liat, Noga's mother.
When she grew up a little, Noga would come to the lab happily as Najua would prepare a variety of surprises for her such as drawing kits, stickers and more. Liat added, "It has become a meeting that Noga is really looking forward to. Najua would shower Noga with compliments and she would run to her to hug her whenever she arrived."
Gena Vanjoa at the clinic 9 years ago, photo: None
Over the years, the frequency of Noga's blood tests decreased to once a week and the relationship with Najua grew closer to a family that includes in-depth acquaintance, holiday greetings and sharing photos from time to time. Najua shared, "The warm relationship began with lots of stories and games to give Noga confidence and remove any fear of being stabbed. I remember Noga at every stage. I will never forget that whenever she came to the lab she would sit at my place and I would take the test from her finger while she was in my arms. I treated her just like my daughter."
This month, Noga celebrated her Bat Mitzvah and Najua arrived as a surprise for Noga's big day, who was very excited by the guest of honor. The person who accompanied her from the first month of her birth, every week, closed an emotional circle and received a warm welcome accompanied by lots of hugs. "I am sure that our relationship will last forever. We love her so much that there's no way we'll let her go of us. Najua means a lot to Venus. She was her anchor when we came to Maccabi. She helped us a lot with all the different bureaucracies. I really don't know what we would have done without her," Noga's mother concluded.
The bride of the event could not hide her excitement. "I absolutely love Najua and I'm glad I got to know her. She's really nice and I was always scared to take a blood test, she was there to help."
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"Serving and taking blood for babies always touches my heart and puts me in a sensitive area. Even as a baby, I felt from the first moment that the process with Noga would be long and I immediately thought about how to make the stabbing a pleasant and painless experience. And so Noga grew and over the years the love and connection grew and became stronger. I was honored to be present at her bat mitzvah event, I was very excited to see her outside the HMO and give her a heartfelt hug," concluded Najua Shehadeh, Director of Laboratory Services of Maccabi Health Services in Kiryat Motzkin.
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