Five get organs donated by 17-year-old son of film director run over and killed
Family of Ari Nesher praised for ‘extraordinary’ act; recipients include emergency heart transplant patient; kidneys go to a teen and a 10-year-old boy
Organs from 17-year-old Ari Nesher, the son of acclaimed Israeli director Avi Nesher, who was killed in a Tel Aviv hit-and-run, were donated to five recipients on Friday, the National Transplant Center said, praising the family for its “exceptional nobility.”
Ari Nesher and a friend were riding an electric bike on the city’s northern Rokach Boulevard early Monday morning when they were hit by Israeli Premier League soccer player Itzhak Asefa, who subsequently fled the scene. Nesher had serious head injuries and died Thursday.
After his death, the family announced that they would donate his organs to honor Ari, who had been a volunteer with the Magen David Adom rescue service and had always worked to help others.
“From a belief that there is nothing more important than saving lives, the Nesher family, with exceptional nobility at this most difficult time, decided to donate Ari’s organs with the hope of saving others,” the transplant center said.
His heart was donated to a 60-year-old man whose condition had deteriorated rapidly in recent days. His lungs went to a man, 50, at the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah and the liver was transplanted into a 36-year-old in Tel Aviv.
One kidney went to save a 17-year old at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center and another was transplanted into a 10-year-old boy in Haifa. His corneas would be transplanted in the coming days, the center said.
Ari was the son of acclaimed Israeli film director Avi Nesher.
In a statement shortly after his death, Nesher’s family said their son had celebrated his 17th birthday surrounded by loved ones at the hospital.
“Our Ari was not just a handsome boy. He was a talented, curious, witty and happy child,” his family eulogized.
“He was a gifted young filmmaker and always tried to help anyone in need. Ari dreamed of being a paramedic in the army, and last year he volunteered every week with Magen David Adom.”
“From an early age, Ari evoked in everyone around him the desire to live and rejoice and take part in this wonderful thing called life,” they said.
He will be buried on Sunday, September 30, at the Moshav Udim cemetery.
The second teen was taken to Petah Tikva’s Beilinson Hospital, where he is recovering from moderate injuries.
Asefa was arrested shortly thereafter by police who said his blood alcohol level was found to be five times the legal limit.
Following the announcement of Nesher’s death, Hadashot news reported that police are planning at Asefa’s next remand extension hearing to raise the charges against him to murder, for which he could serve up to 20 years.
According to a Wednesday Hadashot news report, Asefa and seven other friends had purchased three bottles of vodka and won an extra bottle at a club they visited the night of the accident.
It remained unclear whether Asefa himself drank from that alcohol before getting into his car and hitting Nesher. While police said they deemed that he had alcohol in his system upon his arrest, it is possible that he had consumed it after fleeing the scene.
Authorities said they were still questioning Asefa’s friends and witnesses at the bar to confirm the soccer players’ conduct that evening.
The Tel Aviv crash took place close to where 13-year-old Eylon Shalev-Amsalem was killed by a suspected drunk driver in July. Eli Bar Zakai has been charged with manslaughter, causing grievous bodily harm, obstructing an investigation, tampering with evidence, drunk driving and speeding in connection with Shalev-Amsalem’s death on July 26-27.
The Supreme Court last week permitted Bar Zakai to leave his home on Yom Kippur to pray at the closest synagogue, but rejected his appeal to release him completely from house arrest.
Just weeks after Shalev-Amsalem’s death, a disabled military veteran was killed when he was hit by a Hummer when crossing the street in the same area of northern Tel Aviv.
