Paratroop commander Roi Nahari, 23, and Golani Battalion trooper Amichai Rubin, also 23, were killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7 near the Gaza border. Nahari was defending civilians in Kfar Aza and Rubin was defending comrades on his base. Both are credited with saving others in the last moments of their own lives.
The Nahari and Rubin families decided to donate their sons’ hearts, livers and kidneys, thereby saving the lives of 10 seriously ill people from the ages of eight to 72.
Nahari’s family told reporters that Roi’s twin brother, also a paratrooper, told them he and Roi had discussed just a month ago their desire to donate their organs in the case of their death.
Dr. Yael Peled, medical director of the Heart Transplant Unit at Sheba Medical Center where Nahari’s heart was transplanted into a seriously ill patient, commented, “In these days when we face adversity, Roi, of blessed memory, and his family give us hope. Not only did Roi’s kind heart save the life of our patient, but it also teaches us about the goodness of human beings, generosity, partnership, and love for one another.”
Rubin’s lungs went to a 70-year-old individual, his kidneys to a 29-year-old recipient and a seven-year-old recipient, one lobe of his liver to a 23-year-old man and another liver lobe to an eight-year-old boy.
The eight-year-old’s father said, “My child reveres soldiers. When he hears that his donor was a brave soldier, it will undoubtedly increase his strength.”