Ami Rabia (49, IDF disabled, eating his wheelchair-bound wife) Recently, his kidneys have ceased to function, and he is addressing the public • "Want my wife to have a good, healthy life"

• Ami Rabia and his wife Shifra Photo: Yehoshua Yosef

For decades, Ami Rabi'a (49) has been eating his wife's wife, while at the same time dealing with injuries sustained as a result of a serious training accident. Quietly, without attention and without help, he takes care of the two. But now he came to a situation where he simply had no choice. If he does not find a kidney donor, his body may betray him, even in the coming weeks, and he may die. So, with no choice, he appeals to the public and asks - help me live.

"I was a Golan warrior and was injured in an exercise in 1989. I grabbed some bullets in my hand and stomach," he tells Israel Today. After his release, he met his wife, who was also wounded in the IDF and wheeled into a wheelchair.

For many years, the two faced the difficulties, raising a child together, who eventually became a warrior in a sting unit. Ami, who is still dealing with the consequences of his injuries himself, works for a manpower company when he says, "My job is to take care of my wife. I am a pillar in the family." At the same time, despite the nature of his injuries, he made sure to volunteer and assist the fighters. "I help individual soldiers. Poisoned by the army. Although he is a single son, we signed our son to become a fighter."

In the years since injury, his physical condition has deteriorated. He underwent several surgeries in the palm of his hand and abdomen, but fragments left in his body caused him irreversible damage. Because he had received many pills for many years, his kidneys stopped functioning. "Four years ago I discovered that I was suffering from kidney failure because of the pills I received. I must not eat and drink much and I vomit," he shares. He has undergone two brain events and two catheterizations in recent years. The absurdity is that due to his injuries, he is not allowed to undergo dialysis, which makes kidney donation the only option for him. "My situation is not good," he says honestly. "I can have a cardiac arrest and die because they can't save me."

Over the past few years, kidney donor peoples have been found for them, but these have been disqualified one by one due to medical problems that prohibited them from making the donation. Now, he decided to turn to the media, as a last resort. He says that because he has no extended family, he is the only one, except his son, who helps his wife. "I am a quiet person. I want my wife to have a good, healthy life. I want them to help me. I want them to know that kidney donation is not a danger, and that it is a life-saving overall. Raise awareness of kidney donation."

Members of the Living Donor Association who accompany him say that it is the salt of the land, which has contributed to many a country. "The way to a normal and healthy life of my people, like other kidney failure patients in Israel, is through kidney donation," they note. "This is an uncomplicated and non-life-threatening procedure. In Israel, hundreds of people today are contributing to their kidneys and whose quality of life has not been compromised at all. They have saved many people's lives."

Ami: "Four years ago I discovered that I was suffering from kidney failure because of the pills I received. I want them to know that kidney donation is not a danger and that it is life-saving."