(JTA) — A paramedic from Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency rescue organization is on her way to Peru with 100 units of blood for an Israeli tourist hospitalized there after contracting a serious blood-related illness.
The paramedic left with the blood late Wednesday night after the Health Ministry of Peru gave permission to bring the units of blood into the country following diplomatic contacts involving MDA and Israel’s Foreign Ministry. An MDA hematologist arrived in Peru on Sunday.
The family of 21-year-old Zohar Katz, from Kibbutz Yotvata in southern Israel, had first reached out to Israelis traveling in the area and asking them to come to the hospital in Lima and donate A positive, A negative and AB blood to cleanse her body and minimize her critical condition. Many Israelis showed up to give but were prevented from donating because they had been vaccinated for their trip within the previous six months, which precludes blood donation in Peru.
Katz was first hospitalized in Cusco but later transferred to a hospital in the capital city, where she remains sedated. She needs 11 to 20 units of blood per day in order to clean her body of the bacteria for a treatment that may take 15 days.
