Chaya Cohen, 19 months old, of Netanya, has cancer of the liver and the baby’s parents, Israel and Nurit Cohen, are appealing for help in getting a suitable donor, it was announced by Rabbi Chaim Zelikovitz of Long Beach, Long Island, who along with a number of rabbis and doctors in Long Beach and the New York metropolitan area have established the Baby Chaya Fund to defray costs for the operation and to find a suitable donor. Liver transplants are not done in Israel.
The baby and her father arrived in New York over the weekend and are staying at the home of Zelikovitz. Her mother is scheduled to arrive in New York tomorrow. They will then fly to the University of Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis for an operation. Chaya was referred by Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem after all attempts at treatment in Israel were unsuccessful and where no suitable donor could be found, Zelikovitz said.
The rabbi and his wife, Yetta, became involved in the case because her brother, Rabbi Israel Meyer Wise of Jerusalem, arranged for Chaya’s trip to the U.S. and for her admission to the hospital in Minneapolis.
According to Zelikovitz, a medical report from Hadassah Hospital stated: “The option of a liver transplant was raised as a possible way of curing this child with unresectable, chemotherapy-resistant hepatoblastoma (liver cancer).”
The University of Minnesota Hospital said that if the baby qualifies for the operation, a guarantee of $170,000 will have to be raised for her. Zelikovitz said that those who wish to help should get in contact with the Baby Chaya Fund, 31 East Penn Street, Long Beach, N.Y. 11561.
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