The bone marrow bank founded by the families of fallen soldiers, Captain Daniel Peretz, Major Aryeh Ziering, and Sergeant. Major (Res.) David Schwartz saved the lives of cancer patients for the first time, their families said on Sunday.
The Ezer Mizion National Bone Marrow Bank, which works as the central bank where the genetic data of the three fallen soldiers was stored, announced that each of the opened banks found a suitable donor to save the life of a patient who had cancer and was in urgent need of a bone marrow donation that would save his life.
"These heroic warriors who gave their lives to save lives are now blessed, even after their fall, to multiply good and bring more life into the world," says the founder and director of the database, Dr. Bracha Zisser.
Peretz fell on October 7 while fighting Hamas terrorists. Originally from South Africa, Peretz moved to Yad Binyamin in 2014 with his family and later served in the IDF's 77th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade.
Ziering, whose parents are from New York and Maine, was a 27-year-old captain in the Israeli army’s dog-handling unit who fell during the first day of the war.
Schwartz, 26, was killed by anti-tank fire in Khan Yunis on January 8. He was a combat soldier in the 8219th Combat Engineering Battalion of the 551st Hatzei Ha’esh (Arrows of Fire) Brigade.
How do bone marrow banks work
The three bone marrow banks opened by the families are used to collect bone marrow samples that may one day be found suitable for patients in need of a transplant.
These are sometimes the last chance for cancer patients and other serious diseases. The main challenge is finding a complete genetic match between the patient and a healthy donor.
"In establishing a personal or community database, the samples whose combination was funded by the database's financial donors are coded with the name they chose, and when one of them is found to be suitable for a patient in need of a bone marrow transplant, the personal database becomes the factor that will allow this life-saving operation to take place," said the official announcement.
"The choice of families and friends to commemorate their loved ones by establishing a database in memory of the fallen is the choice of life and adding goodness and light to the world. Now, these heroic warriors who gave their lives to save lives are now rewarded, even after their fall, with an abundance of goodness and bringing more life into the world," said Dr. Zisser.