HODS on CNN
HODS on CNN
[3 minutes 3 seconds]
TRANSCRIPTION OF VIDEO
Zain Verjee (Anchor): Organ Donation has long been a thorny issue for Orthodox Jews. They believe that Jewish Law prohibits them from donating organs, but one organization is trying to change that. Israel’s IBA tells us about one of the organization’s members who’s taking his mission personally.
Moshiko (through interpreter): I’m drawing something for Eric. A Near East greeting. I’m kind of excited, I don’t know what to say
Zain Verjee (Anchor): Moshiko couldn’t wait to meet Eric. Over the past week, Eric went through a series of medical tests and was finally deemed a suitable donor. He can now donate a kidney to Moshiko that the boy so desperately needed. This week, the two met for the first time. They will undergo simultaneous operations. Eric will have his kidney removed, and immediately afterwards the organ will be transplanted into Moshiko’s small body.
Moshiko: (In English) I hope so, the kidney, (In Hebrew) how do you say, in English, “lasts a long time?”
Zain Verjee (Anchor): Moshiko has already undergone 18 operations in his short 10 years. He has had one transplant that failed. For the past few years he’s had to suffer through dialysis 3 times a week at the same hospital where he will have the surgery.
Moshiko: (In English) Thank you, to save me.
Eric Swim: You know, I read about Moshiko and, and just thinking about the need. If I were he, if Moshiko, if I were he, and just the stress, the anxiety the family has gone through, I want to help take that away from them.
Moshiko: (though interpreter) He is brave. Not everyone could do this.
Zain Verjee (Anchor): Eric is a member of the HODS organization. The Jewish Organ Donor society, which finds donors for Jews in Israel. Doctors say that Eric can live a fully normal life with just one kidney. For him, the prospect is not at all frightening. Eric has a daughter the exact same age as Moshiko, which may be what motivated him to make the 18-hour trip from Kansas City to donate a kidney here in Israel. What remains is the hope that the transplant will be successful.
Moshiko: He has come to save the life of a small boy that he doesn’t even know. How can you not?
Zain Verjee (Anchor): And on this follow-up note, the transplant operation was performed last week. Both Eric and Moshiko are reported to be doing well.