{"id":23675,"date":"2025-05-20T15:30:46","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T12:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/?p=23675"},"modified":"2025-05-20T17:07:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T14:07:23","slug":"from-lone-soldier-to-lifesaver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/from-lone-soldier-to-lifesaver\/","title":{"rendered":"From Lone Soldier to Lifesaver"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Life-saving donation<\/strong><br \/>\nWhat began as a simple cheek swab at the IDF enlistment center turned into an extraordinary story of saving a life. Maya Ben Yitzhak, who moved to Israel from Chicago as a lone soldier, joined Ezer Mizion\u2019s national bone marrow registry\u2014and on her 23rd birthday, she got a phone call that would change her life, and the life of a woman she had never met.<\/p>\n<p>Maya turned out to be a perfect match for Dr. Amy Rothenberg, a Jewish physician from Massachusetts who was battling leukemia and urgently needed a bone marrow transplant. Without knowing who the recipient was, Maya immediately agreed to donate. After completing the donation process in Israel, the bone marrow was rushed to the United States. Dr. Rothenberg underwent the transplant in Boston, which was successful\u2014and she recovered fully.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Watch the emotional embrace:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"\u05e2\u05dc\u05ea\u05d4 \u05dc\u05d1\u05d3 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc \u2013 \u05d5\u05d1\u05d3\u05e8\u05da \u05dc\u05d0 \u05e6\u05e4\u05d5\u05d9\u05d4 \u05d4\u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05d4 \u05d0\u05d9\u05e9\u05d4 \u05e9\u05de\u05e2\u05d5\u05dc\u05dd \u05dc\u05d0 \u05e4\u05d2\u05e9\u05d4 | \u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05d5\u05dd: \u05e9\u05d2\u05d9\u05d1 \u05d1\u05dc\u05e7\u05d9\u05e0\u05d3\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/O3o_Jtc1MGQ?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/reganews.co.il\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cTo say yes without knowing who it\u2019s for\u2014that\u2019s incredible\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\nOnce she had recovered, Dr. Rothenberg knew she had to meet the woman who had saved her life. About a year after the transplant, she traveled to Israel especially for that purpose, and the two women met for the first time at Ezer Mizion\u2019s Oranit House in Petah Tikvah.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn my birthday, a year and a half ago, I got the message that I was a match\u2014and everything went completely smoothly from there,\u201d says Maya. \u201cI had the privilege of getting to know Amy\u2014she\u2019ll tell you herself that we have an amazing connection. Being part of this is life-changing. It\u2019s the greatest birthday gift I could have asked for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>A powerful encounter<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_23678\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-23678\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-23678 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-128-1024x682.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-128-1024x682.webp 1024w, https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-128-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-128-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-128-1536x1023.webp 1536w, https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-128.webp 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-23678\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cWe have an amazing bond.\u201d Maya and Dr. Rothenberg meeting at Oranit House | Photo: Ilan Spira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Dr. Rothenberg shares: \u201cI was stunned when the doctor told me my match was in Israel. I thank Maya every single day. We talk often\u2014I thank her and tell her how deeply grateful I am. Before I met my donor, I imagined how much generosity and energy it must take to agree to donate. To help someone from another part of the world, to save a life, without even knowing who it\u2019s for\u2014and still say yes\u2014that\u2019s incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maya Ben Yitzhak made aliyah to enlist in the IDF. Years later, on her 23rd birthday, she received a surprising phone call: she had the chance to save a life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":23677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,2276,85],"tags":[5806,3227,5831,4344,5808,2163,5807,3998,2436],"class_list":["post-23675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-people","category-positive-moment","tag-bone-marrow-donation","tag-ezer-mizion","tag-heartwarming-stories","tag-israel-u-s-relations","tag-jewish-solidarity","tag-lone-soldiers","tag-medical-miracles","tag-new-immigrants","tag-usa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.7 (Yoast SEO v24.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>From Lone Soldier to Lifesaver - REGA news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Lone Soldier to Lifesaver\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Maya Ben Yitzhak made aliyah to enlist in the IDF. 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