Moroccan Child with Heart Defect Successfully Treated in Israeli Hospital

Before finding salvation in a cure in Israel, the path for the child was difficult and sometimes desperate. Youssef experienced this with his sister, Fatima Zahra. "We almost despaired of my brother’s condition, especially with the difficult operation and the expensive treatments, so a doctor advised us to contact a Moroccan cardiologist who is in El Jadida, who gave us hope again." There, fate allowed the two young people to meet Najat Bachar, a woman who works within a charitable association, and who had already visited Israel. "After undergoing the necessary procedures and checks, we went, with my brother and Mrs. Najat Bachar, to Tel Aviv on February 24, 2020. We stayed there with Youssef until August 23, 2020," she says.

Fatima recounts that once in Israel, her brother received the necessary care and attention as well as support that he did not expect, given the journey he had already had in hospitals. "He underwent all the tests, and a surgery as complicated as appropriate to his case. They took great care of him, and I am very grateful to them for that," she stressed. The only thing to regret is that the stay of the two Casablancans lasted longer than expected. Their stay coincided with the start of the quarantine and the suspension of air navigation, which forced them to spend a few more months, impatient to return to Morocco, reports Hespress.

Najat Bachar, thanks to whom Youssef was able to be operated on, is a former nurse who has dedicated herself to a good cause. "I accompanied this child and his sister to Israel so that he could benefit from this operation provided by SACHS, after having previously met a member of this organization, a Jew originally from Casablanca named Evelyn, who helped us a lot. She says that the health crisis prevented other children, in the same situation as Youssef, from having the chance to be treated.

As for Evelyn, she said she was happy that the children of Morocco could benefit from these services. She is responsible for the SACHS (Save a Child’s Heart) organization which provides pediatric cardiac care worldwide, from Israel. Established in 1995, SACHS has treated more than 5,000 children with congenital and rheumatic heart disease. About 50% of the children come from the Palestinian Authority and Gaza, Iraq and Morocco, more than 40% are from Africa and the rest from Eastern Europe and the Americas, the same source specifies.