Not everyone is given the best survival rate. Unfortunately, some people get sick when they are small. The fact that there are children born sick or develop an illness as they grow and develop makes me feel the need to help. That is why I went to the Hadassah Hospital while visiting Israel.
At Hadassah Hospital the kids with cancer I met with in the pediatric unit reportedly have an 82% survival rate. If you think about it, most people will walk out healthy. However, fighting cancer is not easy. It can be painful, both physically and emotionally for the child. My goal was to make them just a fraction more happy or to give them something to grasp when they are in pain.
One of the people at Hadassah Hospital, Annette Magnus, took us to the children’s long term care area which is beautiful and let us bring dolls and give them to children diagnosed with cancer. One of the children looked just one year old and was crying softly. Her mother ran her fingers through what was left of her thin black hair. The girl’s eyes were small and empty. She must have been hooked up to a million different machines. I walked up to the girl and her mother and stood there for a second. The girl looked at the doll for a moment and hugged it. You could see that one glimmer, that one fraction, of hope and happiness come to her eyes. This same hopeful emotion flashed by every child that got a doll. I had succeeded.
At Hadassah I experienced moments I will never forget. I was able to feel the feeling of being able to help someone in need. That feeling is just amazing and something that I intend to experience more.
*Special thanks to Emily Gold for sharing her experience with us.
Click here to read about Emily’s visit with Paralympian Doron Shaziri
Click here to read about Evan’s (Emily’s twin) experiences in Israel
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