After Nabil Hourani, an Arab from the village of Deir Hannah, died of a cerebral hemorrhage on Saturday, his family decided to donate his organs. His heart, two lungs and kidneys were transplanted to five other patients, both Arabs and Jews. Israel Yakozy, a father of three and grandfather of two from Ramat Hasharon, received Hourani's heart. Yakozy has long suffered from a heart condition, forcing him to undergo valve replacement procedures in three open heart surgeries. In the past year, his condition took a turn for the worst and he was forced to stay in the intensive care unit at Sheba Medical Center. Now, with a new heart beating in his chest, he is on his way to rehabilitation. "The entire operation was successful," Prof. Jacob (Jay) Lavee, the head of the hospital's Heart Transplantation Unit, said on Wednesday. "He is doing physically well and is in high spirits. We expect to soon take him off the respirator," he added. Hourani's two lungs were given to Said Subhi, 62, an Arab, and Serge Kaminovitch, 63, a Jew, who both have a long history of pulmonary fibrosis. Both men were urgently awaiting new lungs after exhausting all other treatment options. Kaminovitch, who was born in France, immigrated to Israel with his wife four years ago upon entering retirement. Soon after his arrival, however, he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and told he would have to undergo transplant surgery. Now, with his new lung, his ordeal seems to be over and he has been breathing unassisted since Wednesday. Mordechai Kramer, head of he Institute for Pulmonary Medicine at Petach Tikva's Beilinson Hospital, where both surgeries were performed, said Subhi and Kaminovitch were in a "serious condition" prior to their surgeries, spending most of their time connected to respirators. "They gave me life," Kaminovich said of Hourani's family. A 44-year-old man at Tel Aviv's Sourasky Medical Center received Hourani's liver and one of his kidneys. The second kidney was transplanted to a 40-year-old patient at the same hospital. "We hope all the transplantations turn out well," Hourani's brother said. "My brother now lives on, in both Arabs and Jews, and this is very important to me."
Arab family donates loved one's organs to both Arabs and Jews
Organs harvested from the body of deceased Arab-Israeli Nabil Hourani breathe new life into five patients from both sides of the conflict • Heart, two lungs and kidneys transplanted • Brother: My brother now lives on, in both Arabs and Jews.
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