LITERALLY SAVING A LIFE!
MAKE A CONTRIBUTION AND SAVE A CHILD HOSPITALIZED OVERSEAS
IN GRAVE CONDITION!

Leizer Galperin from Kiryat Malachi was severely injured when a fire broke out in his home. Leizer is a little chassid – the son, grandson, and great-grandson of prominent chassidim – hospitalized in very critical condition, while the family home was seriously damaged from the huge flames that turned their beautiful and orderly house as black as coal.

A terrible tragedy!!!

“Sit down, we have some bad news.”

The director of the intensive care unit appears with a solemn expression on his face, as he informs the parents of the test results. “Your Leizer is suffering from deep and serious burns over all parts of his body of the third-degree – and worse. We can save him by hospitalizing him for a year in intensive care, followed by several years of rehabilitation. I just wanted you to know. The truth is that I can't recall a case where a child suffered severe burns over eighty percent of his body, yet he arrived at the hospital conscious and breathing. But that prove to be no comfort, as the coming years will be quite difficult for you.” The father felt as if the whole world was closing in on him, suffocating him from every direction.

“A year in intensive care” – The words ring in his ears again and again, as he tries to digest this terrible news. Does this mean that he’ll have to move and live near the hospital for the coming year? Does this mean that Tekias Shofar, Chanukah lighting, Pesach seder – all these things he’ll have to do there within its cold and white walls? Who will teach his darling children? How will they learn at “Avot U’Banim”? Who will care for them during this long and hard period? And the father, Rabbi Shmuel, a friendly and affable person, still doesn't know what the future holds for him.

“Very complex treatments,” the doctor said. “Complex treatments” means that his son will inevitably endure indescribable suffering. It means that he will have to accompany his son for hundreds of difficult and agonizing hours. “Very complex treatments” means more staggering debts added on to those that already exist.

The family barely got out the fire alive. Five-year old Leizer was very seriously injured, as the fire caught his clothes, and he sustained severe burns all over his body. The house has been completely blackened, and all that is left from the children’s room are some charred furniture remains. And sweet little Leizer, who always smiled at everyone, is under anesthesia and on a respirator in Tel HaShomer Hospital for the start of a year in an intensive care unit…

But this is just the beginning. The finest doctors and medical consultants were rushed to his bedside, and they decided that in order to save his life and provide him with a full rehabilitation, he must be flown to the United States for hospitalization at the Cincinnati Children's Medical Center, a highly regarded institution with an international reputation in the area of severe burn treatment.

* * *

It all happened in a second. One fateful second…

Darkness engulfed the entire house, and soon huge flames spread all around, consuming everything in their path within a matter of minutes. The father, Rabbi Shmuel Galperin, was on the night watch at his job as a kashrut supervisor in a Kiryat Malachi factory, and he was immediately called to the horrific scene. In the meantime, his wife of valor, Devorie, maintained her composure and quickly rushed the other three children into the stairwell, while little Leizer remained trapped by the large fire ablaze on his bed.

Just a few hours earlier, Leizer said the nighttime Krias Sh’ma, the Twelve P’sukim, and with a sweet smile, said “Good night” to his mother and brother, and now, he was screaming in blood-curdling terror, “IMA, SAVE ME!” Devorie attempted to penetrate the flames, but it soon began to catch onto her clothes, forcing her back. The rescue and ambulance teams had not yet arrived, and Devorie's maternal compassion overcame all sense of fear. She tried again and again to get through, but the fire was simply too intense, and she began to sob bitterly.

Leizer begged his mother to save him, but she couldn’t because of the fiery flames. Then, like an angel from Heaven, a young man arrives, and without even thinking, he jumps into the fire and pulls Leizer out of the roaring inferno. The boy is then quickly transferred to the Tel HaShomer Hospital, where he is listed in very grave condition. After a medical evaluation, the doctors declared that the treatment and rehabilitation can be expected to last several years!!!

Professors, department heads, and medical consultants were called to the child's bedside. He had been severely burned over eighty percent of his body, suffered internal injuries, and the worst threat of all – infection had begun to spread in his legs and one of his hands. After much serious deliberation, the doctors and consultants decided to transfer the boy to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, where he would receive intensive and special treatment designed for burn victims.

Together with the staff of the intensive care unit, his father, and his uncle, little Leizer was transferred to the Cincinnati hospital while connected to various respiratory devices. Since his arrival, he has already undergone several operations which constitute the start of a series of most difficult treatments and surgical procedures over the next few years!!!

Leizer's mother and three siblings are also expected to fly to Cincinnati soon, and the distressed parents will have to remain constantly near their son, while good people watch their other children.

The parents, Rabbi Shmuel and Mrs. Devora Galperin, are well known as cheerful and goodhearted people who provide much help in a variety of areas. Now, they will be forced to be overseas for a long period of time, with no possibility of working to make a living, remaining close to the bedside of their young son, who was miraculously saved from the fiery furnace. In addition, they will have to serve as a source of encouragement to their other children, who were terrified and alarmed to see their brother burned before their very eyes!

In the meantime, they will have to deal with the very severe damage caused to their home by the fire itself and the local fire department's rescue efforts. Much property was destroyed in the fiery blaze, while the rest was wiped out by the fire hoses. The medical expenses, the child’s rehabilitation, and the home repairs will cost a sizable amount of money, and all these expenses now fall on the shoulders of the family, who were already living with great difficulty in meeting their most basic payments.

Fellow Jews! We have given you the whole story, and those who deal with this episode in detail can not help but shed tears of deep sadness. We all know that there is nothing comparable to saving the life of another Jew, and little Leizer, due to be hospitalized in the U.S. for a lengthy period of time, is in desperate need of assistance. We must do everything we possibly can to help him.

At this hour of sorrow, Kiryat Malachi City Councilmen R’ Chaim Steiner and R’ Avraham Hershkop have accepted the mission to raise funds to cover the Galperin family’s expenses in light of this terrible occurrence. They will be joined by family friend and community representative R’ Dovber Kenig. Together, they have initiated a committee to rescue this family, under the auspices of “Va’ad HaRabbanim L’Inyonei Tzedaka”, and with the consent and sanction of leading rabbinical figures.

The directors of this fund ask everyone to contribute according to his/her means, and Heaven will surely give just reward to those who respond positively to this fervent appeal.