The New York Mets hosted an extraordinary meeting at Shea Stadium on Sunday, August 26 as Avraham Goldhar, a heroic bone marrow donor was introduced to Gal Betzalel, the young man whose life he saved one year ago.  Gal traveled over 5,000 miles to New York from Israel to meet his hero face to face for the very first time.  The transplant, one of hundreds facilitated by the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, North America’s only Jewish bone marrow, blood stem cell and umbilical cord blood registry, was Gal’s only hope of surviving leukemia.

In a private suite overlooking the playing field, Mr. Goldhar, along with his wife and eight children, welcomed Mr. Betzalel and his wife as new and cherished members of their family.  Many tears were shed as the two embraced for the first time in a meeting that was arranged in conjunction with Jewish Heritage Day, a special opportunity for New York’s Jewish community to celebrate together while enjoying a game at Shea.

Omar Minaya, the General Manager of the New York Mets, personally attended the meeting and shared in the joyous occasion, a unique occurrence at Shea.  He congratulated Gal on his successful transplant and the year of good health that followed. Jay Feinberg, Founder and Executive Director of Gift of Life said of the meeting, “We are very grateful to the Mets for providing us with such an exciting venue for this happy celebration.  This was a special and memorable day for the Avraham, Gal and their families.”

Gift of Life is internationally recognized for facilitating over 1,500 transplants for children and adults suffering from life-threatening illnesses around the world.  Through targeted recruitment in Jewish communities throughout North America, Gift of Life has greatly improved the chances that Jewish patients needing transplants will find genetically matched donors through its registry that is now over 120,000 volunteers strong.  Gift of Life’s mission arose in response to the devastating effects of the Holocaust which severed bloodlines and made the search for donors for Jewish patients particularly difficult.