Jewish family donates kidney of Israeli man to Palestinian woman – Everett Post

(LOD, Israel) – It’s a story of hope – and grace – between two families after nearly two weeks of fighting in the Middle East.

On May 11, Ira Yehoshua’s husband, Yigal Yehoshua, died 500 meters from her home after being hit with stones by a group of Palestinian-Israeli rioters in the city of Lod.

Yigal Yehoshua was Jewish Israeli but had both Jewish and Muslim friends, Ira told ABC News’ Matt Gutman, adding that he always tried to help others.

After her husband’s death, Yigal Yehoshua’s family decided to honor his memory with an organ donation. His organs would make life possible for another person, she told Gutman.

One of Yigal Yehoshua’s kidneys went to 58-year-old Randa Oweis, a Christian Palestinian woman who had waited 10 years for a transplant.

In their grief, the Yehoshua family decided that they would meet Oweis as soon as she recovered.

On Thursday, Ira Yehoshua and her husband’s brother, Effie Yehoshua, were invited to Oweis’s home just days after the life-saving operation.

“I just hope that we can keep in touch and that another person can live because of Yigal,” said Ira Yehoshua Gutman on the way to Oweis.

Effie Yehoshua said the meeting would close the family.

And after Ira Oehoshua had hugged Oweis, she stroked her arm and said to Gutman between sobs, “I’m just trying to feel Yigal again.”

At the end of the meeting, Ira Yehoshua hugged Oweis and shared her good wishes along with a plea in honor of her husband.

“Please take care of yourself because now you are not just taking care of yourself,” she said.

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