Cypriot organ donor saves 45-year-old woman in Israel

A young Cypriot woman who died following a road traffic accident became an organ donor, providing a life-saving heart to a 45-year-old woman in Israel. The recipient had been on a waiting list for nearly two years. The successful transplant was carried out at the Beilinson Hospital in Tel Aviv on Friday following a complex 26-hour logistical operation.

Authorities were notified of the available organ on Thursday morning. The medical mission involved four surgical teams working simultaneously from Cyprus, Greece, and Israel. While the Israeli team retrieved the heart for the 45-year-old patient, medical teams from Cyprus and Greece secured the donor's lungs, liver, and kidneys for other recipients. Despite challenges in securing an aircraft due to the summer holiday season, emergency funding was arranged, and the team successfully transported the heart, arriving in Israel at 7:40 a.m. Friday. The transplant procedure was completed that afternoon, and surgeons later confirmed that the operation was a success.