Seven-and-a-half-year-old Bel Finkelstein from Rishon LeZion has been given a second chance at life following a liver transplant made possible by the family of Sgt First Class Shahar Gamla z”l, an IDF officer who died on 6th June after being critically wounded by an explosive drone in Lebanon.
Even in the depth of their grief, Gamla’s family chose to donate his organs, saving six lives. Among them was Finkelstein, who was born with a rare genetic congenital syndrome and had been waiting on the organ transplant list for six months.
The procedure began at Rambam Health Care Campus, where a lobe of Gamla’s liver was harvested and transported under tight medical protocols to Clalit Schneider Children’s Medical Center, part of Clalit Health Services, Israel’s largest health provider running 14 hospitals across the country. A multidisciplinary surgical team then carried out the gruelling, hours-long transplant operation. Finkelstein was transferred afterward to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and then to Pediatric Department C for recovery, where she remained until her recent discharge home.
According to Israel’s National Transplant Center, Gamla’s donations enabled transplants at several hospitals. His heart went to a 54-year-old man and his lungs to a 47-year-old man, both at Rabin Medical Center Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva. A full liver went to a 69-year-old man at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, while the liver lobe reached Finkelstein at Clalit Schneider. His kidneys were transplanted into a 37-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman, both at Beilinson. Corneas and skin were also donated, including for treatment of burn victims through the National Skin Bank.
Gamla, 23, from Moshav Natur in the southern Golan Heights, served as an officer in the IDF’s Egoz Unit. His family requested organ donation shortly after his death was confirmed at Rambam Hospital in Haifa. His mother, Leah, later said there is nothing greater than organ donation, as it allows Gamla to continue living through other people with joy and great love.
Before Finkelstein left the hospital, Gamla’s family visited her and her parents at Clalit Schneider. The emotional reunion, attended by medical staff, left no dry eye in the room.
“I have no words to adequately thank Gamla’s precious parents, who, from the absolute depths of their bereavement, chose to grant life to my daughter,” said Yana, Bel’s mother. “It is such a noble, extraordinary act. I also want to express my deepest gratitude to the dedicated team at Clalit Schneider, who wrapped us in care and looked after us relentlessly throughout this entire journey.”
“This is an extraordinarily complex and difficult emotional situation, even for us in the operating room. It is hard to put into words the thoughts and feelings during an event like this,” said Dr Michael Gurevich, Head of the Liver Transplantation Unit at Clalit Schneider. “I am profoundly grateful to the family for their noble decision to donate his organs. The realisation that this soldier saved lives both in his duty and in his passing weighs heavily on our hearts. We are deeply thankful for the privilege granted to us to save human lives.”
Clalit Schneider is Israel’s leading centre for paediatric organ transplants and the only facility in the country performing liver transplants in children, with multidisciplinary teams there routinely handling complex cases involving infants and young patients. Finkelstein’s case adds to the centre’s record of successful paediatric liver transplants, underscoring the coordinated efforts between hospitals, the National Transplant Center, and dedicated surgical teams that make such outcomes possible nationwide.
Finkelstein has now returned home to Rishon LeZion, carrying forward the gift that began with a soldier’s service and his family’s decision made in the midst of mourning. Medical staff continue to monitor her progress as she resumes everyday life.