Woman who passed away saves her sister's life with a kidney donation

Relatives of Karmit Tzadka Hober feel sadness
mixed with joy. On the one hand, Karmit died at age 62 after medical complications, but on the other, she was able to donate a kidney to her sister and save her life against all odds.

Karmit Tzadka Hober Photo Credit: Courtesy of the family/Channel 2 News

Karmit Tzadka Hober from Tirat Carmel passed away last week at age 62 as a result of medical complications after undergoing heart surgery. After she died, the doctors discovered that unlike the initially thought, her kidneys matched her sister Aliza, who was in need of a kidney transplant.

"During the funeral, while my mother was lying in her grave, we got the message: 'It's a perfect match,'" Karmit's daughter Lital told Israel's Channel 2 News. "We all laughed with joy and cried with sorrow at the same time."

"The doctors had initially told my aunt Aliza that she could not receive a kidney donation from her siblings, only from people outside the family," Lital added. "After examining her organs, the doctor said this case should be written down in the history books because he had never seen anything like it."

Karmit's five children decided to donate additional organs of their mother in order to save the lives of more people, even people they don't know personally. "We planned on donating her organs even before we knew she would be able to donate a kidney to her sister," Lital stated. "When the doctors said she couldn’t be saved, we said we wanted to donate her organs, even though she did not have a Donor Card."

Karmit and Aliza Photo Credit: Courtesy of the family/Channel 2 News

"The body is just the vessel the soul uses," Lital said, explaining the family's decision. "The organs inside can save the lives of others and bring happiness to their families. This happiness can also affect the soul of the diseased."

Lital says that this extraordinary story had an affect also on her mother's Shiva. "People from all over the country came to console us, but when they heard the story they were in shock," the family stated. "We feel sadness mixed with joy. We see how our aunt's body is responding to the transplant and it's like a dream come true."