Cypriot organ donation saves lives across three countries

A young Cypriot woman who died in a car accident has become an organ donor, providing a second chance at life to five individuals through a complex international coordination effort. On Friday, August 14, 2026, a heart transplant was successfully performed on a 45-year-old woman at the Beilinson Hospital (Rabin Medical Center) in Israel, following a 26-hour logistical operation that began with an initial notification on Thursday morning.

Medical teams from Cyprus, Greece, and Israel worked simultaneously to harvest and distribute the organs. While the heart was transported to Israel, the lungs were sent to Greece, the liver to Thessaloniki, and two kidneys were transplanted into recipients within Cyprus. Dr. Andreas Soloukides, assistant director of nephrology at Nicosia General Hospital, confirmed that all five recipients are in good health. The operation was facilitated by a long-standing cooperation agreement between the Cyprus Ministry of Health, Greece, and Israel, which allows organs to be shared across borders when domestic facilities are unable to perform specific transplants due to Cyprus's small population size.

Following the successful harvest in Nicosia at 3:00 a.m. Friday, the Israeli medical team utilized emergency funding and a special aircraft to transport the heart to Tel Aviv, landing at 7:40 a.m. The entire process was completed with high efficiency, highlighting the critical nature of regional medical partnerships in emergency organ donation.