The family of fallen IDF soldier Noa Lazar, who was killed in a shooting attack at a Jerusalem checkpoint met on Wednesday with the the recipients of her donated corneas and their families.
In the meeting at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Lazar's family met with 32-year-old Haim Israel and 61-year-old Yermiyahu Yakobi who can now see thanks to her kindness.
"It was a very emotional encounter with a lot of tears and pain, Karin Lazar said. "We all hugged for a long period of time. We miss Noa who died a tragic death. it's been very hard," she said.
"Our happiness is accompanied by a deep sadness," said Yakobi, who received one of Noa's cornea. "Noa's face is always in my head."
"My husband got an eye, it changed his life," said his wife, Liat Yakobi. "We didn't meet them until now, and it wasn't until after the transplant that the hospital told us who we got the cornea from. "We are deeply grateful. We are speechless, no amount of words would be enough," she said.
"Noa was a stunning girl, both inside and out," he mother said. "She was very charismatic and knew exactly what she wanted. She asked to enlist and be a Border Police officer even though she knew the risk," she said.
The mother said she did not hesitate when the request to donate the corneas was made.
"It was a difficult moment," she said. "Ten minutes after I was informed that she died from her wounds, doctors from the transplant department came in and told me that the corneas could be donated, and I immediately said yes."
"It's not comforting me, because I lost my daughter, but it did help two people have a better life," the mother said.