Hospital Gives Frum Girl Hope

By COLlive reporter

Sara Gottlieb, an only daughter to her parents, has been fighting a dreaded disease, a severe case of sarcoma, for the second time, since a relapse in 2016. Doctors in Israel had all but given up hope for the recovery of the 22-year-old.

Suri’s parents were devastated by the news, and together with a dedicated group of activists have turned over the world to find the right doctors and the funding to give her the chance she deserves at living a normal life.

With the blessing and support of the Rachmistrivka Rebbe of Yerushalayim and many rabbis, the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, was finally found as a source of hope. An experimental regimen of treatments, followed by a bone marrow transplant, promised very positive results.

But the price was steep: $700,000 was needed to enable Suri to take advantage of the medical treatment she so desperately needs.

Rabbi Lazer Lazaroff, founder of the renowned Chabad Aishel House in Texas, communicated with the financial directors at the hospital. He explained how the Jewish community got together to help these parents save their only daughter’s life, however they did not have the funds to pay for the treatment.

The cancer center agreed, in a humanitarian and unprecedented act, to reduce the total cost of Gottlieb’s care to $500,000, provided it would be paid up-front by a certain date.

A fundraising campaign was opened, and reported twice on COLlive.com. The result has been astounding. Close to $400,000 was donated by almost 7,000 Jews from around the world.

But, the final $100,000 was still needed to be raised.

In a last ditch effort, Charidy.com, another fundraising platform, sent out a call for funds, to raise the final $100,000.

Just as the campaign got underway, in another amazing turn of events, the people involved in the efforts on behalf of the Gottlieb family received an email on Thursday, September 26, from Emily Bennet, the Patient Access Coordinator at MD Anderson, waiving yet another $100,000 from the fees.

“Per our executive director of finance, no remaining funds are required. She is cleared to proceed with (the) transplant,” Bennet wrote on behalf of the hospital, leaving the family and friends in tears of appreciation.

“The hospital was moved by how many people from around the world donated to help save one person’s life,” Suri’s grateful family said. “Suri now has a real chance to survive.”

Please continue to Daven for Sara bas Gita.

In light of this exciting unexpected development, Charidy has lowered the goal to $440,000 which will cover all other necessary expenses along Suri’s difficult journey. Click here to help now.