‘It Felt Like Childbirth’: He Donated a Kidney and Gave Two Women a New Lease on Life

Naomi’s kidney disease was discovered while she was serving in the army, but for two decades she managed to remain stable. When she reached the point where she needed dialysis and the option of a donation from her brother fell through, her cousin entered a paired donation process, in which he donated to another recipient, and at the same time a donor was found for Naomi who matched her.

“It's unbelievable that someone agreed to go through such a process for me,” she says.

About 25 years ago, Omri Lapidot, now 50 and living in Emek Hefer, sat in a class as part of his master’s degree studies in neuroscience and neurophysiology at Tel Aviv University. During a discussion about decision-making and risk versus benefit, one of the lecturers said that kidney donation is the action that yields the greatest benefit with the least risk. “It just stuck in my memory,” he says. At the time, he had no idea that one day he would become a kidney donor himself.

About a year and a half ago, the condition of his cousin, Naomi Cohen Zgagi, 44, began to deteriorate because of the kidney disease she had been living with for about 20 years. The disease was discovered during her military service after she suffered from headaches, high blood pressure and a rapid pulse. After hospitalization and lengthy tests, it became clear that her kidney function had been significantly impaired.

“Until the army I was completely healthy,” she says. “After months of tests they found that my kidneys were functioning at about half the normal capacity. They told me that I might need a transplant in the future, but they could not say when.”

For years Naomi managed to remain relatively stable, but in 2025 her condition began to worsen rapidly. “By August 2025 I really felt it,” she says. “I was tired in a way I had never known before, I felt weak and heavy, along with a lack of desire and a lack of vitality. I was doing the bare minimum at home, and at work I cut back my hours. I understood that I was close to the point where I would need a donor, or I would be on dialysis very soon.”

At first, her immediate family members were tested. Her brother was considered the leading candidate for donation, but he was eventually ruled out because of a concern related to a family genetic mutation. “That was the hardest moment in the whole process,” she says. “I had already nurtured hope that we would find a donor.”

At the same time, the family also reached out to other relatives. “Omri was the first in the extended family to volunteer to be tested,” she says. “Even when it became clear that he could not donate to me directly, only through a paired exchange, he continued with the process. I did not take that for granted.”

While the process dragged on, Naomi’s condition continued to worsen and she had to begin dialysis. “I tried to avoid it for as long as possible, but my body was no longer functioning. The buildup of toxins took its toll. I was very anxious about this stage. I felt terrible that I had reached a point where only a machine was helping my body function.”

She was on dialysis for only about a month, but even that short period left a deep impression. “The treatment itself is exhausting. It leaves you drained for several hours afterward, then you feel a bit better, and then you crash again until the next treatment.”

Eventually, it turned out that Lapidot was not a match for Naomi, but he was a match for another recipient. Through the Gift of Life organization, founded by the late Rabbi Yeshayahu Haber, a chain donation, or what is known as a paired exchange, was arranged. “Omri donated to another woman, and thanks to his donation they found Meira for me, my amazing donor,” Naomi says. “For the rest of my life I will never find an appropriate way to thank her for what she did. In fact, Omri gave new life not only to me but also to his recipient.”

“For me it was a bit like childbirth. I felt I was connecting to very high places.”

For Lapidot, the decision to donate was not simple. He is married and the father of three boys, aged 15, 13 and 10. “There was fear,” he admits. “I spoke with people who had gone through it, but part of it is overcoming the fear.” He explained the brave step to his children in a special way.

“I told them it was like jumping through a ring of fire. I am willing to jump, but I need them on the other side. They also need to go through that fear together with me.”

According to him, the days before the surgery were especially unusual. “There is a sense of uplift. You know you are going to do something that will hurt you for a certain period, but will also save a life. The day of the surgery itself was an amazing day. It is a bit like childbirth. I felt I was connecting to very high places.”

He says the recovery was more complicated. “They cut me in the abdomen. For almost a month my wife did everything at home. I could barely move or help. Today I already feel improvement every day. If you ask me whether it was worth it, the answer is absolutely yes. You need a supportive environment, and you also need the ability not to work for a month or a month and a half, but for me it was worth everything.”

Dr. Evyatar Nesher, head of the transplant department at Beilinson, part of Clalit, explains that Naomi’s story is not unusual among chronic kidney patients. “There are many people who live for years with kidney failure without yet needing dialysis, but when the disease reaches its final stage, dialysis or a transplant is needed.”

According to Dr. Nesher, one of the main consequences of kidney failure is impaired ability of the body to regulate salt levels in the blood. “As a result, potassium levels can rise to dangerous values, and high potassium can harm heart function. That is why many kidney patients have to limit or avoid foods high in potassium for years.”

Dr. Nesher emphasizes that for many patients, dialysis is a particularly difficult reality. “Patients are required to come three times a week for four hours each time. Beyond the time and the disruption to daily life, this is a process in which blood leaves the body, is filtered by a machine, and returns to the body. It is a very unnatural process. A large share of patients feel weakness, fatigue and nausea. The quality of life on dialysis is very difficult.”

He says there is no comparison between dialysis and a kidney transplant. “A kidney transplant is the best treatment for end-stage kidney failure for those who are suitable. Of course, there is also a price to transplantation. Patients must take anti-rejection medication, and these drugs can increase the risk of infections and certain types of cancer, mainly skin tumors. But for most suitable patients, transplantation is the best solution.”

Dr. Nesher adds that there are currently about 5,000 kidney patients in Israel, but only about 1,000 of them are on transplant waiting lists. “Many dialysis patients are not suitable for transplantation at all because of their medical condition. Those who are suitable and do not have a living donor may wait five to seven years for a kidney from a deceased donor.”

He says Israel stands out very positively in living kidney donations and altruistic donations relative to its population size. On the other hand, he explains that when it comes to organ donation after brain death, Israel is still several steps behind much of the Western world. “In many countries in Europe and in the United States there are about 35 organ donors per million residents, while in Israel the number is significantly lower.”

Naomi now speaks about the life she gained. “Less than a month after the surgery I started feeling that I wanted to do things at home and think about future plans,” she says. “Before that, my body and mind were in survival mode.”

The physical change came a little later. “Almost two months after the transplant I already went for a walk on the path near my house and suddenly understood that I was not feeling the same heaviness and was not getting tired so quickly.”

Today she has already returned to work and feels that life is gradually returning to her. “I can do things that once were taken for granted, make food, do laundry, clean a little, climb stairs without getting tired, and be with my daughters without having to rest all the time,” she says. “I can also eat almost anything. Even a banana, which I hadn’t eaten for almost twenty years.”

Despite the improvement, there is one thing she still finds hard to absorb. “I cannot wrap my head around the fact that someone agreed to undergo surgery for me. It is amazing and crazy. I thank for it every day, Omri and Meira, who gave me a new life.”

The Gift of Life organization accompanies living kidney donors and provides them with full support throughout the process.