16,000 Israelis Rally to Save Bride with Leukemia

“This is the People of Israel in [their] beautiful hour,” declared a leading Israeli doctor helping to facilitate the search for a donor.

By: JNS and United with Israel Staff

Thousands of Israelis from across the country have been giving saliva samples in hopes of becoming a match for an Israeli bride fighting to beat leukemia.

The family of Roni Cohen, 27, and her fiancé, Bar Amon, have partnered with Israel’s Ezer Mizion bone-marrow registry to try to find a bone-marrow donor to provide her with a life-saving donation.

Pleas for help have gone out over WhatsApp and on social media, asking people of Moroccan and Yemenite descent (Cohen’s genetic background) to become part of the registry in hopes that one special donor will be found.

On Sunday, Ezer Mizion opened 30 swabbing stations at malls across the country, with an estimated 16,000 Israelis submitting to testing.

Israeli Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich, who comes from a Moroccan and Yemenite background, also had a swab conducted in hopes of being a match.

Cohen is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments. She and Armon were scheduled to be married on September 17, but Cohen suddenly was overcome with lesions on her face, swollen glands in her neck and mouth, neck cramps and blue marks on her legs. Her family doctor sent her straight to the emergency room, where tests confirmed she had leukemia.

Cohen thanked the volunteers and the participants.

“You made me very happy, very excited and gave me strength. You made my struggle a lot easier,” she said.

The samples were flown to a special laboratory in the US and results are expected within 10 days.

Ezer Mizion director Dr. Bracha Zisser stated Tuesday, “I was thrilled to see so many people enlisting for Roni to give her hope. This is the People of Israel in [their] beautiful hour.”