After an arduous journey, a four-year-old Syrian girl was successfully operated for a deadly heart condition in the Israeli Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon.

"Without the surgery she could have died within a few months, maybe even weeks," said the surgeon, Doctor Lior Sasson. "It's uplifting to perform surgery on a child from a hostile country. We can show Syrians and the world we look for peace."

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The child's journey began three and a half years ago, when an examination in Syria revealed her heart had only one ventricle, instead of two, causing her chronic fatigue, weakness and shortness of breath, critically endangering her life.

When the Syrian civil war broke out, her mother realized that to save her daughter, the family has no choice but to leave the country and seek help for the girl from abroad. Half a year ago, they moved to Jordan, from which the mother appealed an American-Christian association and pleaded for their help.

The group approached the Israeli Save a Child's Heart Foundation, and with Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar's approval, the mother and her sick child arrived in Israel a few days ago for the complex open heart surgery in the Israeli hospital which specializes in such cases.

As said, the operation was a success, and the girl is currently recuperating ahead of her return to Jordan.

"At first I feared the Syrian regime's response to our coming here," said the mother. "Naturally, I myself was also afraid to come to Israel. But the moment I arrived I felt at ease. The doctors treated me and my girl nicely."

Save a Child's Heart Foundation Director Simon Fischer said the foundation has already helped more than 3,200 children from 44 countries worldwide.

"Bringing a child from an enemy state is an uneasy feat, which requires coordination between many groups. The child's operation was made possible thanks to the support of Minister Sa'ar."

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