David Oren, a former Austrian who came to Israel 12 years ago and converted to Judaism, was the organ donor whose heart and liver were used in transplant surgery performed at two Israeli hospitals this week.
His identity was disclosed Wednesday by his widow, Linda Oren, of Yavne. She said she took the unusual step of identifying him to encourage other people to donate their organs to save lives.
Oren was originally identified as an unnamed Austrian tourist. He was fatally injured in a traffic accident Monday.
On Wednesday, his donated kidneys were used in two transplant operations at Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva.
Liver recipient Maurice Aslizada remained in critical condition Wednesday, following a 13-hour operation Tuesday at Beilinson Hospital.
But heart recipient Yehezkel Drucker’s condition was reported stable and satisfactory at Hadassah University Hospital in Ein Kerem. The six-hour heart transplant surgery was performed there Monday night by a team headed by Dr. Joseph Borman.
Aslizada, 46, suffered from cirrhosis. He and his family abandoned plans to go abroad for surgery because of the high cost and long period of separation.
They applied instead to Beilinson, which was licensed by the Health Ministry only a few months ago to do liver transplants.
Aslizada ? was the first liver transplant performed there. The surgical team was headed by Dr. Zaki Shapira.
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