Valley rabbi helps save life of stranger
Jun 24, 2015, 3:05 PM | Updated: Jun 25, 2015, 8:17 am
PHOENIX — A young Israeli man has a new lease on life thanks to a religious leader in the Valley.
Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, who teaches at the Valley Beit Midrash in Scottsdale, is recovering alongside a complete stranger after donating a kidney to the man.
According to Yanklowitz, the man lived a difficult life suffering with major health issues from the time he was an orphaned child. He had also been on dialysis for several years.
“He had kidney disease for 15 years since he was a kid but he was really towards the end of his life,” Yanklowitz said. “He was really not doing well and he had lost hope that somebody was going to give to him.”
Yanklowitz flew out to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York for the surgery after doctors said his kidney would work as a match for the man. Yanklowitz said meeting the organ recipient just moments before the operation was one of the most emotional moments of his life.
“Seeing his face, we both broke down and held each other and he was just saying ‘Thank you’ and I was just whispering blessings to him,” he said.
The operation was successful.
