Israeli doctors save Mongolian baby of Buddhist refugees
The couple, who arrived in Israel with language difficulties and without financial means, gave birth to their daughter at the Red Crescent Hospital in east Jerusalem.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHUpdated: OCTOBER 16, 2017 14:20A baby (illustrative)(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
The baby girl of Mongolian refugees who was diagnosed with a hernia of the diaphragm under her lungs has been operated on successfully, thanks to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center.Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Mukh Orgil expressed his gratitude to the hospital in a letter of thanks: “I join the praise of the baby’s parents and the citizens of Mongolia, and I thank you for saving her life.In Buddhism, lifesaving action echoes forever and brings with it plenty of blessings. In the coming days I will join the prayers of the baby’s parents for you, your medical teams, your families and the generous people of Israel.”The couple, who arrived in Israel with language difficulties and without financial means, gave birth to their daughter at the Red Crescent Hospital in east Jerusalem, where they confirmed the suspicion that the baby was suffering from a diaphragmatic hernia that endangered her life.Amichai Orkabi, the honorary consul of Mongolia in Israel, contacted Shaare Zedek, which agreed to treat her as a humanitarian gesture. Due to language limitations, the process of hospitalization and the medical procedure was mediated by a Mongolian-Israeli interpreter. The baby was successfully operated on by Dr. Yaron Armon, director of the pediatric surgery department, and she was discharged in good condition.Prof. Michael Schimmel, director of the hospital’s neonatal intensive-care unit, who accompanied the couple in the process and monitored the baby’s medical condition, said the parents arrived agitated and worried, unable to communicate with the medical staff. The baby suffered from respiratory distress.“Communication with the parents of babies is one of the most important things in the treatment process for newborns,” he said. The doctors stabilized her condition, and she was able to undergo surgery to repair the hernia.“This case is the best example of our basic values as a society,” Orkabi said, adding: “Now we can give life to the citizens of foreign countries through our best doctors.”