Everyone in Israel has heard about the Argamani family, including the mother, the late Liora Argamani, who was fighting an advanced stage of cancer and clung to life, waiting to be reunited with her only daughter Noa, who was kidnapped from the Nova party and taken hostage by Hamas to Gaza.
About three weeks after Noa was brought back to her family in a dramatic rescue operation, Liora passed away, leaving father Yaakov alone with his daughter.
During Liora's last months, the Argamani family was supported by the Haverim Le'Refuah (Friends for Health) nonprofit, which deals with obtaining and providing medicines to anyone who needs them.
Haverim Le'Refuah obtained expensive medicines for Liora, that are not included in the Ministry of Health’s approved list of medicines, to treat her brain cancer and prolong her life. The Argamani family forged a close relationship with the staff, which has continued to this day.
"Noa is really happy to know that we were there for her family and helped her mother in the past few months. A close and special bond was formed between us and the Argamani family," says Yael Heller, department head at Haverim Le'Refuah.
After Liora passed away, Noa and Yaakov Argamani decided to donate the expensive medicines that Liora hadn’t used before her passing to Haverim Le'Refuah, in order to help other seriously ill people who need them.
One of the medicines, AYVAKIT, was given to an 11-year-old boy, Yisrael Sheinberg, from Beitar Illit, who suffers from a malignant brain tumor and a complex medical condition.
The cost of a pack of about thirty 300 mg pills of this expensive drug is NIS 205,920, so the donation of one pack of medicine from Liora was highly welcomed by the boy's family. Argamani was very excited to hear that the drug was given to a young boy and promised ‘with the help of God, to visit the child soon,’ wishing him a full recovery."
Baruch Lieberman, CEO and founder of Haverim Le'Refuah, says that the nonprofit helps patients obtain a wide range of drugs, and we put in a lot of effort to obtain drugs for rare and chronic illnesses, experimental oncology drugs, or those that are not in the Ministry of Health’s basket of approved drugs, and even daily medications, such as antipyretics or painkillers, because there are people who can’t afford these."
"As for leftover medications," says Lieberman, "Medications cannot be returned to pharmacies, so if you have unnecessary or leftover medications, you can help others by donating them to organizations, such as Haverim Le’Refuah. When it comes to expensive oncology medications, such as the medication taken by the late Liora Argamani, donating the medication is literally saving a life.”