In an unexpected and remarkable display of Kiddush Hashem, the collective efforts of Klal Yisroel have resulted in a Tzedakah campaign needing to raise less money than anticipated to save a Jewish life.

Suri, an only daughter to her beloved parents, is struggling to fight the dreaded disease, a stark case of sarcoma, which has her literally fighting for her very life.

Dedicated Askanim, with the support and encouragement of the Rachmastrivke Rebbe Shlita from Yerushalayim, have worked tirelessly to find the right medical facility to treat her, as well as to raise the funding necessary to pay for the expensive procedures.

The hospital best suited for her situation ended up being the MD Anderson cancer Center in Texas, and the hefty price-tag to cover her protocols was initially $700,000.

The Askanim, led by Refuah Helpline and Rabbi Lazer Lazaroff, founder of the popular Chabad Aishel House in Texas, negotiated with the hospital and got it down to $500,00, with the hospital stipulating that it must be paid in full by a certain date, which is fast approaching.

The campaign went into high gear and $400,000 was already raised. The final $100,000 was due in a matter of days and a crowd-funding campaign was launched and went into overdrive to ensure that Suri’s treatments, including a vital transplant, did not cease, and that the progress she made was not for naught.

Amazingly, the renewed efforts of the crowd-funding campaign not only got the attention of Klal Yisroel, but also touched an emotional nerve with the hospital’s administrators, who were amazed at the way so many people in Klal Yisroel, who never met Suri and didn’t know her personally, were going out of their way to ensure she had the resources to fight her fight. They were so impressed by this display of “Kol Yisroel Areivim Zeh Lazeh” that Suri’s family received an email from Emily Bennet, the Patient Access Coordinator at MD Anderson, notifying them that the hospital has waived any additional fees, and agreed to finish the treatments for the sums that were already raised, and deem the bill “ Paid in full”. That’s a savings of $300,000 of Klal Yisroel’s Tzedakah money. That’s a remarkable Kiddush Shem Shomayim. That’s yet another reason we can all proudly proclaim “Mi K’Amcha Yisroel”!

B’ezras Hashem, very soon, Suri will merit a complete Refuah Shelaima, and have the Zechus of the tremendous Kiddush Hashem that she facilitated, to protect her for many healthy and happy years to come.

(By: L. Halevi / YWN World Headquarters – NYC)