Israel grants rare entry to cancer-stricken Iranian boy

Israel grants rare entry to cancer-stricken Iranian boy

A 12-year-old cancer-stricken Iranian boy arrived at an Israeli hospital on Friday for emergency treatment on his brain tumor.

The boy - who was identified only as Roy, to protect his privacy - was wheeled on a stretcher into the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, after treatments in Iran and Turkey failed. His face was puffy, apparently due to the drugs administered to ease his pain.

Israel granted the child a special permit to enter the country and he arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Friday. The rare arrangement was mediated by an Israeli businessman of Iranian origin. The boy was accompanied to the hospital by his father and veiled mother, who were also granted special entry permits into Israel.

Iran and Israel are bitter enemies and have no formal relations. Iran's president has denied the Holocaust and repeatedly called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

Sheba CEO Zeev Rotstein said it wasn't the first time Israeli doctors have treated children from adversarial states.

"We hope that with the love and affection we give these kids we are paving the way for at least some understanding between people," he said. "We can't change the politics. We are not politicians. We do this because we feel it is our job."

Israel is home to world-class hospitals and state-of-the-art medical technology

Dr. Amos Toren, head of Sheba's Pediatric Hemato-Oncology Department, said his initial diagnosis was that the boy's year- old growth was the most aggressive tumor that exists among brain tumors.

"He is conscious and he can smile but it is hard," he said. "We will give him the most modern treatment possible and maybe we will be able to help him."

Rotstein said the child had been operated on before and may need another procedure in Israel.

"There are very limited things you can do," he said. "But if this kid has any chance, it is here."

He said the hospital kept the identities of patients from countries hostile to Israel secret, so that they would not face danger upon their return home. Iran and several other Middle East countries oppose any type of normalization with Israel.

Rotstein said he hoped treatments, like those of Roy, would help break down some of those barriers.

"As far as we are concerned, we are not involved in politics," he said. "He is from a country that doesn't really like our existence here, but I think part of our job is to prove to countries like Iran that we are here to help the regular people."

Iranian boy gets cancer treatment in Israel

Reuters and The Washington Post Friday, October 10, 2008

TEL HASHOMER, Israel: A 13-year-old cancer victim from Iran came to Israel for treatment on Friday, the hospital which received him said, attracting media interest in a country used to decades of hostility with Tehran.

The boy, who has an advanced brain tumour, had travelled from Turkey with his parents after undergoing surgery as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy in Iran that failed to cure him, Chaim Sheba Medical Centre director Zeev Rotstein said.

Turkish doctors who examined the boy advised his family to seek help at Sheba, which has an international reputation and experience in treating patients from countries that have no diplomatic ties with Israel, Rotstein told Reuters.

"He has been suffering from the tumour for more than a year," Rotstein said. "We are doing our best, in the knowledge that his chances are not very good."

Sheba declined to give the boy's name, citing concern that his family could face legal problems when they return to Iran. The boy and his parents received permission to enter the Jewish state from the Israeli embassy in Ankara.

Iran is locked in difficult talks with Western powers over its nuclear programme and has stirred war fears with fiercely anti-Israel rhetoric. Israel, assumed to have the region's only atomic arsenal, has hinted it could attack its foe preemptively.

(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Charles Dick)

The Telegraph Iranian boy is treated for brain tumour at Israeli hospital An Iranian teenager suffering from a serious brain tumour has been brought to an Israeli hospital for treatment, in a rare case which goes against the grain of regional politics.

By Carolynne Wheeler in Jerusalem, Telegraph.co.uk Oct. 11, 2008

The 13-year-old, who has been identified oly as Roy to prevent him and his family facing persecution on their eventual return to Iran, arrived in Chaim Sheba hospital in Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv, on Friday, after a journey assisted by an Israeli businessman of Iranian origin.

When surgery, chemotherapy and radiation at medical facilities in Iran failed to help their son, the boy's parents took him to Turkey, where doctors advised them to seek treatment at Sheba. The hospital has a highly regarded cancer treatment programme.

The Israeli embassy in Ankara issued permits for them to enter the country.

"As far as we are concerned, we are not involved in politics," the chief executive officer of Sheba hospital, Zeev Rotstein, said.

"He is from a country that doesn't really like our existence here, but I think part of our job is to prove to countries like Iran that we are here to help the regular people."

Various charities have brought children from other countries, including those without diplomatic relations with Israel, here for treatment before; at least 35 Iraqi children have received heart surgery in Israel through a programme based in Amman, Jordan.

But the treatment of the Iranian boy is believed to be a first. Israel and Iran are sworn enemies; the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has threatened to wipe the Jewish state off the map while Israel is widely believed to be preparing a pre-emptive military strike to prevent Iran's nuclear programme from achieving an atomic weapon.

The outlook for the boy is not good, however. His tumour is aggressive and while he is still conscious and able to smile, doctors are uncertain how much more they can do to treat him.

"He has been suffering from the tumour for more than a year," Prof. Rotstein said. "We are doing our best, in the knowledge that his chances are not very good."

Iranian cancer patient arrives in Israel 

Sixteen-year-old Iranian boy suffering from highly aggressive brain cancer given special permission to enter Israel along with parents; doctors in Sheba Medical Center optimistic about giving him chance

by Meital Yasur-Beit Or, Ynet 10.10.08

A 16-year old Iranian boy suffering from a cancerous growth in his brain was transported to Israel on Friday in a move coordinated in part by the Shin Bet, landing in Ben Gurion International Airport along with his parents. He was immediately transferred to Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer to begin treatment.

The youth has developed a highly aggressive growth termed GBM, and was treated in both Tehran and Turkey, to no avail. He arrived on a flight from Turkey after his doctors there recommended Israel as a last resort.

Dr. Amos Toren, head of Sheba's Pediatric Hemato-Oncology Department, said his initial diagnosis was that the boy's year- old growth was "The most aggressive tumor that exists among brain tumors."

"He is conscious and he can smile but it is hard," he said. "We will give him the most modern treatment possible and maybe we will be able to help him."

Sheba Medical Center is reputedly one of the most advanced hospitals in the Middle East, within this particular field of medical technology. This reputation is what eventually brought the boy to Israel.

Sheba CEO Zeev Rotstein was therefore optimistic. "We have the most advanced resources to give this boy a chance," he said. "It's still early to be pessimistic."

He added that Sheba had acquired a certain history in treating children from various foreign countries. "We hope that with the love and affection we give these kids we are paving the way for at least some understanding between people," he said. "We can't change the politics. We are not politicians. We do this because we feel it is our job.

"As far as we are concerned, we are not involved in politics. He is from a country that doesn't really like our existence here, but I think part of our job is to prove to countries like Iran that we are here to help the regular people."

Iranian patient's father thanks Jews

(Video) Tehran boy flown to Israel for emergency surgery said to be in serious condition, as doctors' fight for his life. Father grateful for hospitality, says 'It's important that you know the majority of Iranians don't hate Israel'
 

by Noam Barkan, Ynet 12.10.08

Watch the video

VIDEO - "I can't thank the Jewish people enough for all the love and support we've been getting," said the father of the Iranian boy flown to Israel for emergency brain surgery over the weekend.

The 13-year-old arrived in Israel from Turkey on Friday, after Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit and the Shin Bet gave an ex-gratia authorization to the move, due to his grave medical condition.

A special authorization was required as Iranian citizens, who are essentially residents of an enemy state, are forbidden from entering Israel.

The boy's father and grandmother stayed by his side at the Safra Children's Hospital, a facility adjacent to the Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, throughout the weekend.

"I ask you, all of you, to pray for my son. A father's love for his son goes beyond borderlines and religion... It is important to me that you know that the majority of Iranians don't hate Israel. We are all people and we all have the same feelings.

"All I want now is to hear my son's laughter again. I'm sure any parent in my condition would do anything they can to save their child. My wife and my baby daughter are waiting for us back in Tehran. We are all praying for the best," he added.

The boy underwent an extensive battery of tests since arriving at the Safra Hospital. "The tests have shown that the disease has spread throughout his brain, the central nervous system and the spinal cord," Prof. Amos Toren, head of Hemato-Pediatric Oncology Unit, told Yedioth Ahronoth.

"His condition is too grave for us to operate on him, so we're trying aggressive chemotherapy, in hopes that it would help."

Prof. Zeev Rothstein, chief administrator of the Sheba Medical Center, added that "the boy's chances are rather slim, but there are always surprises. It's too early to be pessimistic. We're not going to give up so easily."