Eyal Sharasky travelled to Austria in winter 2009 for a family ski vacation. There, on the trails, he collided with a snowboarder, fell, and lost consciousness. It would turn out to be an event that would save his life.
Eyal was evacuated to a local hospital and after a head scan was performed, learned that he had a brain tumor. In a moment, Eyal’s world turned from snowy white to black. Fear overcame Eyal and his family. He decided to return to Israel and immediately checked into the Sourasky Tel Aviv Medical Center’s Neurology Department. He underwent an extensive series of imaging scans and an fMRI, and his doctors decided to remove the tumor from his brain. Eyal was brought into the operating room, and operated upon while still conscious.
“Performing brain surgery on someone while they’re awake may seem like an impossible combination of words”, says Eyal
. ”I’ll never forget how I lay down in the operating room, my skull visible and exposed, the doctor’s hands within my skull, and all throughout I’m fully awake, listening to them talk, and answering their questions. During the surgery, they asked me to sing ‘Hatikvah’, the Israeli national anthem, to count to ten and back down again, to raise my right hand, to move my left leg. I even talked to my mother on the phone. And then it was over – they removed the tumor from my brain, leaving no permanent damage to areas responsible for body function or thought”.
After his recovery, Eyal underwent a functional MRI (fMRI), and his doctors told him with great happiness that they had successfully removed the tumor in its entirety, and that within a week he could return to his normal, energetic routine.
“I was overjoyed at what the doctors said. It’s hard to describe the fear that overtook me when I learned that I had a brain tumor. And then suddenly, 1 week later, my life was back on course. It’s a miracle - there’s really no other way to describe it. And all because of the right combination of professionalism, medical excellence, and advanced technology.
To learn that there is life, and a good life, after living through brain cancer, is a wonderful thing. I expressed my appreciation to the Sourasky Tel Aviv Medical Center by means of a generous donation toward the funding of Brain Research. I hope that you can join me in supporting this important cause, the reason that I’m still alive”.
* Eyal Sharasky is a member of the Sharasky family, the owners of Itoran, a major Israeli firm.
