How a Cancer Patient Received a Rare Cure From Japan

By COLlive reporter

R’ Meir Quinn, founder and CEO of the Refuah V’Simcha medical support organization, recently shared the following story with R’ Reuven Garbarchik, a Lubavitcher from London, England:

This past Thursday, we heard that there is a specific medicine that exists in Japan and that could help a child who is battling cancer, G-d forbid.

After some research, we learned that the medicine was only available for a pharmacy in Osaka, a large port city and commercial center on the Japanese island of Honshu.

Now, how in the world will we get to this pharmacy and even if we did, how would it be brought to Israel? This boy needs the medicine immediately to save his life!

But Hashem helped, and thanks to the Rebbe, Chabad Shluchim are everywhere.

I called Rabbi Shmuel Vishedsky, co-director of Chabad of Kansai, which is active in the cities of Kobe and Osaka. It was already Friday, Erev Shabbos by him, but he said he was on it.

A short while later, he sends me a photo of himself receiving the unique medicine from the pharmacist. Could you imagine, he has a family and a community and Shabbos preparations but dropped it all in order to help.

I was moved by the swiftness and the dedication of the Shliach, but now the next step seemed complex as well – how to deliver it to Israel?

And then Rabbi Vishedsky texts me. “Now that the medicine is in my hands, it will be brought to Israel right away with Hashem’s help.”

How?

“You won’t believe this,” he wrote back. “I have a ticket to Israel this Motzoei Shabbos that I booked a while ago.”

Sure enough, Rabbi Vishedsky flew with the medicine and then insisted on driving himself directly from the airport to personally deliver it to the hospital.

I was left astounded. Imagine I would have delayed the call to Rabbi Vishedsky until after Shabbos, figuring he was busy. By then, he would have been already on his flight, and it would have taken another few weeks until we would have been able to get this medicine…

It is a marvelous Hashgacha Protis, and when one decides to do chessed, he is assisted from Heaven.