Meet the Kids
ALYN betters the lives of children of all backgrounds, religions and nationalities.
ELAZAR AND HIS PARENTS RECEIVE TOOLS FOR AT-HOME CARE
On April 30, 2021, then 12-years old, Elazar Berger was crushed under the crowd of people at the tragic event in Meron, Israel. He was the youngest survivor and the first victim to be evacuated to a hospital. He spent more than one month in the ICU. When he was finally discharged from the medical hospital, he was transferred to ALYN Hospital for rehabilitation.
Elazar spent the following three months as an in-patient at the ALYN Respiratory Rehabilitation Department with his parents at his bedside. He was dependent on respiratory assistance and was in need of being weaned off of pain killers, along with facing several physical challenges. The goal was to wean Elazar off the respiratory aids and the medication, while also following an intense rehabilitative therapy protocol. READ MORE
ALYN Enables Muhi’s Reunionwith His Father
in the UAE
Mohammed, known as Muhi to his friends and family, has spent most of his life at ALYN Hospital. He is 22-years old, on chronic ventilation and uses a powered wheelchair. He is able to use his hands and fingers, and is able to speak, but his speech is very difficult for most people who do not know him to understand.
For many years, Muhi had not been in close touch with his father, who lives in Abu Dhabi. They were able to reconnect several years ago, when Muhi’s father sent him a smartphone, allowing Muhi to spend time with his father and younger brothers on video calls. At that time, there was no travel possible between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
ALYN SUCCESS STORY: LEONARD ARIEL
Leonard Ariel Andre’ev was born in November 2020 at only 27 weeks, weighing less than two pounds. He had a twin brother who died within a month due to medical complications.
Leonard Ariel was respirated from birth, and there were long periods that he was anesthetized and respirated due to an exacerbated lung disease. Breathing for him was terribly painful, leading to intensive treatment with steroids, painkillers and drugs. (He would later need drug-treatment therapy from ALYN to wean him off the medications.)
At the age of five months, in April 2021, Leonard Ariel underwent tracheal surgery at the Wolfson Medical Center. Two months later, the family met Dr. Eliezer Be’eri, Director of the Respiratory Rehabilitation Department at ALYN Hospital and Leonard Ariel began treatment at ALYN in November 2021.
A BOY, A BIKE RIDE AND BESHERT
Sometimes, events in our life are touched by “beshert” – the notion that some things are predestined or meant to be. When Hovav Landau started doing the Wheels of Love ride for ALYN Hospital in 2005, he would have never imagined that someday it would be his own child who would benefit from ALYN’s excellence in pediatric rehabilitation Combining bike riding with the mitzvah of tzedakah is something he looks forward to year after year. So, without thinking twice, he contacted Dr. Maurit Beeri, Director General of ALYN Hospital, and asked if Meori could be admitted there for the duration of his rehabilitation process, to which Dr. Beeri agreed. In Hovav’s words: “To us, it was clear we were going home.”
YITZHAK: A MOTHER'S THANKS
Raizy Wachsman wrote two whole pages of thanks to the staff at ALYN Hospital after her son, Yitzhak, had been referred to ALYN for rehabilitation in the fall of 2020 after being hit by a car while crossing a busy road. Yitzhak had sustained multiple injuries, including a rib fracture and a severe fracture in his femur. His leg had to be stabilized with metal rods into the bone from both sides of his knee to the pelvis. While his rehabilitation process originally began at the local Kupat Cholim, Yitzhak was soon after referred to ALYN. “From our first meeting at ALYN with Dr. Michal, we immediately felt assured that Yitzi’s case would really be taken to heart!” said Raizy.
After many months of slow progress, after Purim, Yitzhak had surgery to remove the rods and he is now slowly regaining movement and independence. READ HERE
RAZ BEN DAVID:
FORMER ALYN PATIENT, STRIKING A POSITIVE CHORD
Raz Ben David experienced a spinal cord infarction, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. The doctors who diagnosed him at a general hospital thought the damage was so severe that he would not walk again. The following month, Raz was referred to ALYN Hospital for rehabilitation. Turns out he is one of only 33 people in the world who have had this specific type of spinal cord infarction. As far as we know, no other known patient with this specific condition is reported to have mobility except for Raz.
At ALYN, he received intense physical therapy, hydrotherapy and occupational therapy, as well as psychological support for both him and his parents. Raz’s father says about the staff at ALYN, “The people here are amazing, truly amazing. They are giving, caring, genuinely concerned and do their very best.” READ MORE
SHIMON’S JOURNEY TO RECOVERY
Shimon is almost 12 years old and is a triplet! He was born healthy and remained healthy until he started having back pains earlier this year. After going to the doctor and having a number of tests including an MRI, the doctors discovered that he had a malformation of the blood vessels leading to his spinal cord. Due to complications of the surgery, he was left paralyzed from the waist down (paraplegic).
When Shimon came to ALYN Hospital in April 2019 (just a few days before Pesach), he was not able to hold his own body weight to sit up at all. He needed a specialized wheelchair that supported his entire body in a sitting position.
Today, after a tremendous amount of effort working in various therapies, especially physiotherapy, Shimon is now able to use a regular wheelchair. He also has intensive occupational therapy, hydrotherapy and psychological treatment, and he learns in the ALYN Hospital Learning Center within the Rehabilitation Department to help him stay on target with his progress in school. His treatments are augmented by using medical clowns, virtual reality, therapeutic gardening, animal assisted therapy, art and the therapeutic sports center.
In addition to all of the above, the ALYN Hospital staff of the Learning Center as well as the social worker reached out with advice and guidance to the staff of Shimon’s school regarding what adaptations would be needed in order to re-admit him – with his wheelchair – this fall so that he can go back to his class, his teachers and his friends. He still has a long road of continued rehabilitation ahead of him, but Shimon and his family can take comfort in the knowledge that they can rely on the ALYN Hospital staff to be there for them the entire way.
MEET TZLIL
Tzlil was seriously injured in a car accident. She arrived at ALYN on a respirator and in a coma 10 months ago. Even veteran ALYN staff, who had seen miraculous recoveries against all odds, had a bad feeling that this time the cruel reality was that this young girl would never come out of the coma and would remain in nursing care for good. Indeed, over the first few months, Tzlil did not respond at all despite the various therapies and medications. Her days were spent in agonizing discomfort, while her dedicated family surrounded her with love, never giving up. Gradually, the discussion turned to the possibility of transferring Tzlil to a nursing home.
Surprisingly, four months after the accident, Tzlil began to respond to music, to speech and to touch, although she was still unable to express herself in any way. Once she started responding, improvement was slow but unremitting. I have known Tzlil and her parents throughout the entire 10 months. I have seen how they have reached out for support from different parts of their community. How they have recruited top musicians and songwriters to come to her bedside, and how her first responses were to familiar songs, although we still did not hear her voice.
Tzlil is still making progress, now talking fluently. She still requires a lot of assistance in activities of daily living, and is still working to improve through multidisciplinary therapies by our Brain Injury Team. She ambulates in a powered wheelchair and will probably be a day patient at ALYN for months to come. The road ahead for Tzlil is still long, but she will fight alongside us to earn her right to her own voice and opinion and ability to function in a world that won’t give up on children like her.
GHARAM’S VR SUCCESS
Gharam, a 14-year-old from Jerusalem, has a simple wish: to be able to walk normally and go out with her friends, like she used to before she was badly injured in a car accident.
After a complex surgery and three months in a cast, Gharam visits ALYN Hospital for weekly occupational therapy sessions. She spends some of her time in the Virtual Reality (VR) room using products developed by Senserum, an ALYNnovation portfolio company.
The VR room is inviting and welcoming. Once the children put on their VR headsets, they are transported to a world devoid of disabilities and difficulties. Instead, they are immersed in a game or action that requires mobility. It’s hard work, but they WANT to do it so they can win the game or succeed at the task they’ve been given.
“It’s fun for me and I enjoy the VR therapy,” Gharam says with a smile. “Some of the other therapies are boring or painful. In the VR room I move much more because I forget the pain and concentrate on the games and activities.”
And Gharam? She is working hard toward her goal of walking without crutches. “In the VR room I am walking much better. I can’t wait to walk everywhere without pain, get back to school and hang out with my friends”