While dozens of family members, relatives and friends of the late Roi Sadan accompanied him on his final journey when he was laid to rest this afternoon (Sunday) at the Rosh Hanikra cemetery, his organs have already been transplanted into the bodies of six different patients and saved their lives.
Sadan, 38, became famous in 2011 after a four-year journey during which he circled the Earth on his bicycle, and was even seriously injured in 2015 in a rock fall but managed to overcome the severe injury.
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On Wednesday last week, on his way back from training, he was seriously injured by a bus while riding his bicycle near Kibbutz Rosh Hanikra where he has lived for the past few years. He was no longer able to recover from this injury and over the weekend died of his wounds at the Galilee Hospital in Nahariya.
His mother, Rachel, told Yedioth Ahronoth before the funeral “We knew Roi had an Eddie card, so we agreed without hesitation. We did not stand in his way in his life so why should we stand in his way in his death? The essence of his life was giving and empowerment. His organs were donated to seven people. “But there is something comforting about knowing that his organs remain in Israel. Maybe one day I will hear Roi’s heartbeat in another body. If he had been killed in India or somewhere far away, it would not have happened.”
The mother added, “I will be most excited to meet the one who received Roi’s heart. He won a heart of gold. If it is a heart patient, who until the transplant was limited, after receiving Roi’s heart he will get up and start running. I am sure.”
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The late Roi Sadan. “We did not stand in his way in his life, so why should we stand in his way in his death?”
The race for organ transplantation was against time as at the same time the transplant coordinators at the Galilee Medical Center received further consent from another family of a 56-year-old deceased, who was sentenced to brain death following a stroke.
“This is a very rare and very complex event in which two families give the same approval for this life-saving action at the same time,” says Dr. Tamar Ashkenazi, director of the National Transplant Center.
“Special preparation was required at the National Transplant Center, since both donations were received at the same medical center, and since several large transplant surgeries were performed at two medical centers. This required drives from home and special preparations in the operating rooms. Galil Medical Center staff including hospital management and imaging and operating rooms. “Enlisted for the mission and went above and beyond to be flexible to the timings set by the National Transplant Center. The transplant hospitals were also exceptionally organized and dozens of staff members were invited over the weekend to reinforce the operation.”
She added that “the transplant center had to maneuver between the transplant centers according to the type of transplant and the transplant staff and the operating rooms at the Galilee Medical Center, in a short enough time so that the organs would not be damaged,” she explains.
The organs of the 56-year-old man were transplanted in five patients: a liver in a 53-year-old man in Ichilov, a heart in a 63-year-old man in Sheba, two lungs in a 54-year-old man in Beilinson, a kidney in a 56-year-old man in Rambam and a kidney in a 41-year-old man in Rambam.
The organs of the late Sadan were transplanted in six patients: two lungs were transplanted in Beilinson, a kidney was transplanted in a 55-year-old woman in Beilinson, a kidney and pancreas in a 35-year-old woman in Ichilov, a heart in a 66-year-old man in Beilinson From an area that suffered from biliary tract disease and needed a liver donation to save her life.
The transplant in little Mia’s body was performed by the transplant team at the Schneider Center for Pediatrics. Dr. Michael Gurevitz, Director of the Liver Transplant Unit for Children at the Schneider Center, Dr. Aviad Gerevitz, Senior Physician in the Transplant and Anesthesia Division, Dr. Eliyahu Simchi.
At the end of the operation, the toddler was transferred to the intensive care unit at the Schneider Center, headed by Prof. Elchanan Nahum. The follow-up is performed by Dr. Yael Mozer-Glazberg, director of the Liver Transplant Service for Children and a senior physician at the Institute of Gastroenterology, Nutrition and Liver Diseases.
Nofar, Mia’s mother, excitedly thanked Sadan’s family. “Dear family, we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the nobility of the soul and your contribution. Thanks to you, my daughter was privileged to receive and start a new life. We share your grief and will always be grateful to you. Gastro Schneider staff welcomed us to the clinic two years ago. “We adore you for your work and appreciate the dedicated care of okra. I call on anyone who can go out and sign a life-saving vapor card.”
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Dr. Michael Gurevitz with little Mia and her mother Nofar
(Photo: Schneider spokeswoman)
In the transplant system at Beilinson of the Clalit Group, a transplant marathon was also performed. In 48 hours, four organs were transplanted: heart, two lungs and two kidneys, some of the transplants belonged to the late Sadan.
The four organs were transplanted into patients in their 50s. Their condition is stable and they are recovering.
Dr. Yaron Barak, director of the breast transplant unit in Beilinson’s cardiovascular surgery department, said that “conducting three transplants almost simultaneously is a complex operation that requires early planning and maximum synchronization in the schedule.
“When performing a transplant, the target’s heart or lungs of the transplant recipient will be outside the chest, when the new organs that will be transplanted in the transplant recipient’s come to the operating room. This is so that the transplant starts immediately and the transplanted organs are outside the human body. For eight hours.The goal is to reduce these times as much as possible so planning the times is critical and requires the surgeons and medical staff to perform three surgeries almost simultaneously and allow for optimal success.
“We worked around the clock for 48 hours, thanks to the skilled staff we were able to carry out such an operation that is worth all the hours and effort to give life.”
Prof. Mordechai Kramer, director of the Lung Department, explained how the organ donations that arrived at the last minute saved the patients ‘lives: “The patients’ condition has worsened recently and as a result they received a high score in the head waiting for the transplant. The two transplants were performed one after the other.” “Involved in both transplants. To date, 830 lung transplants have been successfully performed, with each transplant being a long and complex operation. The surgeries have been successful and the patients are in the recovery stages.”
Einat Hai, Rafi’s wife with a lung transplant, said: ‘Rafi’s condition has deteriorated and I was sure that Rafi would survive until the transplant. A month ago he was invited for a transplant that was canceled due to a mismatch and I felt I was losing him. I do not know how to thank the family. I really want to commemorate him and thought of setting up a playground in his name. Of course we would very much like to meet them if they agree. “After the transplant dream came true, I dream that Sharfi will be able to ride a bicycle and continue the tradition.”
Dr. Eviatar Nesher, director of the transplant department at Beilinson, added: “Our staffs spend nights at the hospital, non-stop, in order to save lives and the transplant surgeries were performed thanks to their activities.”