Whoever said three’s a charm never met the people of the New York Mets or the Boston Red Sox. Two very special heroes, two courageous transplant recipients and two generous baseball teams recently joined with the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation to make two very special meetings possible. Both the Mets and the Red Sox welcomed and embraced the opportunity to introduce bone marrow donors and transplant recipients for the first time at their respective home stadiums.
On Sunday, August 26, Gift of Life received a warm welcome from the New York Mets, who provided a private suite where Avraham Goldhar was introduced to the man whose life he saved, Gal Betzalel, who traveled over 5,000 miles to New York from Israel to meet his hero. The event was held in conjunction with Jewish Heritage Day, a special opportunity for New York’s Jewish community to celebrate together while enjoying an evening at Shea Stadium.
Many tears were shed as Avraham, Gal and their families embraced for the first time. Omar Minaya, the General Manager of the New York Mets, personally attended the meeting and was thrilled to congratulate Gal on his successful transplant and the year of good health that followed. The many children and other guests were equally delighted to welcome the mascot, Mr. Met, who paid a visit to the suite, bringing not only gifts, but joy and excitement.
Gal received his transplant at Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel. While recovering at home, he and his wife welcomed their daughter, Yuval to the world. Gal was thrilled to say thank you to Avraham, whose donation gave him not only a second chance at life, but the gift of watching his little girl grow up.
Just one week later on September 2, the Boston Red Sox hosted another extraordinary donor-recipient introduction at historic Fenway Park. The meeting between Rhode Island resident, Richard Kaplan and his blood stem cell donor, Jerry Greenberger from Long Island, NY took place right on the playing field during a pre-game ceremony in front of 36,000 cheering fans!
This was a rare opportunity for Richard, a self-described “huge” fan of the Red Sox, to thank his hero in person at a most exciting and special venue. Richard, who received his transplant at Boston’s Dana Farber Cancer Institute, expressed his gratitude at having been given a second chance at life thanks to Gift of Life and his donor.
Jerry joined Gift of Life’s registry at a donor recruitment drive held at Long Island's Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR) in 2002. When asked if he sees himself as a hero, Jerry said, “The people of Gift of Life are the heroes here, I just provided the juice.” After meeting Richard and his wife Susan, he and his wife Miriam changed their travel plans to spend more time in Boston getting to know their new friends. They noted that the experience of meeting was, “unbelievable.”
“The work we do has touched the lives of so many“ said Jay Feinberg, Executive Director and Founder of Gift of Life, who was present at both meetings. He added, “Seeing these donors and recipients meet, with thousands of cheering baseball fans looking on was truly a home run for us!”
Red Sox photos courtesy of Phoebe Sexton/Boston Red Sox