Needing a bone marrow donor can put some patients’ lives on a timer.

That was the case for a critically ill patient in Israel in March of this year before efforts from complete strangers, including an Israeli immigrant to Winnipeg, gave the unnamed Israeli patient their life back in under two days.

Ezer Mizion, the world’s largest Jewish bone marrow donor registry, found 41-year-old Alex Shor amidst their more than 850,000 registrants after he was previously tested in 2007 when they began looking for matches for the patient. Shor was a match for the patient, and they wasted no time in contacting him.

Shor said when he heard that he was a match, there was no question in his mind that he needed to donate.

“When I got the message, I was very excited,” Shor said in Hebrew through a translator. “I didn’t hesitate for a moment. It was very clear to me that I should do this.”

According to Canadian director of Ezer Mizion Dena Bensalmon, there was no time to waste, as patients needing a bone marrow transplant get extremely sick and have virtually no immune system. That made the issue of getting the blood donation from Winnipeg to Israel in a timely manner crucial.

“I don’t know very many people in Winnipeg,” Bensalmon said. “But I sent out a Facebook message to see if there was anyone coming from Winnipeg to Toronto. Within four minutes, we had 16 people volunteering.”

Bensalmon said the people were complete strangers, but wanted to help. They found a volunteer to pick up the blood from the lab in Winnipeg, and then another who flew with the blood to Toronto. A stop in Toronto allowed Bensalmon, who lives in Ontario, to meet the volunteer and switch ice packs to keep the blood cold. From there, the volunteer flew to Israel where Ezer Mizion staff completed the delivery.

“It was the most incredible experience and the most amazing turn of events with collaboration from people all over the world to help this match get facilitated,” Bensalmon said. “To me, this is such an important story because it’s not just about Israel, it’s about Canada and getting a bone marrow transplant to an anybody, anywhere in the world who needs one.”

For Shor, donating blood to this type of cause is something he recommends for all who are able.

“I absolutely recommend this, because you are saving somebody’s life,” Shor said. “If you want somebody to save your own life too, you need to be willing to give that back to others.”

jfriesen@postmedia.com