Workanash, “pure gold” in Amharic, was born thirty years ago in Ethiopia and immigrated to Israel at age 4. She is currently working on her Master’s degree in psychodrama. Her dream is to help people and to raise a family.
In March 2018, Workanash was diagnosed with acute leukemia and urgently needed a stem cell transplant to survive. Since the number of donors of Ethiopian origin in the Ezer Mizion Registry was so low and no match was found, the only solution was to embark on a nationwide donor recruitment campaign to save her life.
From the moment the campaign started, the entire Ethiopian community joined in one common mission: “Save Workanash!” Through the campaign a matching stem cell donor was found and Workanash’s life was saved.
“The most challenging aspect of my illness was to understand that I was dependent on people for every little thing. From being an independent young woman, I turned into a helpless person. To my good fortune, I was blessed. From the moment I was diagnosed with cancer, I felt that there were people around me who cared about me. The entire community rallied. Thousands of people joined Ezer Mizion’s Registry in an effort to save me. I am so happy to be here, thanks to Ezer Mizion. We are all blessed that we can together be part of this marvelous journey to save lives.”
But that’s not the end of the story. Thanks to this campaign, the lives of additional patients of Ethiopian origin have been saved. With the critical awareness created within the Ethiopian Community about the importance of stem cell transplants and their role in this lifesaving process, Ezer Mizion looks forward to helping many more in need.