The life of a 17-year-old Palestinian girl from Rafah in Gaza was saved by
Kaplan Medical Center doctors after she fell from a malfunctioning ferris wheel
near her home and was critically injured.
Three months after the
accident, she is out of danger, but her doctors are trying to collect funds to
enable her to undergo abroad a small-intestine transplant, which is unavailable
here.
“I wish for peace between us and Israel,” Abir Abu-Nakira said.
“Kaplan physicians saved me.”
RELATED:Kaplan doctor saves Israeli over skies of TashkentDr. Yoram Klein, director of the trauma and
urgent surgery department in the Rehovot hospital, said Abir was brought to
Kaplan after being held for four hours in a Palestinian Authority hospital, but
the staff couldn’t save her. She was unconscious with severe abdominal injuries,
requiring surgeons to perform several lifesaving operations.
In recent
days, her condition stabilized, but she still requires a long period of
hospitalization. Her small intestine was severely damaged from the fall
and is fed by a special tube attached to a vein in a technique unavailable in
Palestinian Authority hospitals. A TV set was brought to her bedside to keep her
occupied.
Klein said the hospital found an Arabic-speaking teacher who
will work with her, and soon, teachers from Ramle will come to Kaplan to help
Abir progress in her studies. Family members received permits to enter
Israel with help from the hospital.
This week, the teenager whispered her
thanks to Kaplan doctors who saved her life.
“Dr. Klein is my angel. He
is much more than a doctor; he supports and strengthens me,” she
said.
For normal functioning, Abir needs a whole small intestine, which
is very complex to transplant and is a rare operation even abroad.
“It is
a very expensive operation, but it will improve her life significantly,” said
Klein.
“We at Kaplan are doing our best to make things easier for her and
make it possible for her to have routine functioning,” he said. “There is no
doubt that her condition has improved unrecognizably compared to three months
ago.”