6-year-old Shalev wants to live and needs your help
Shalev Bokovza was diagnosed with a rare disease as an infant; he desperately needs 6 injections of the life-saving drug Spinraza to live, with each costing NIS 350,000; please help so Shalev can recover.
Shalev Bokovza was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) when he was only six months old, and the doctors gave him only a year to live. But with the love and care of his dedicated parents, who refused to give up, Shalev has recently turned six years old.
However, if they can't find the money for the expensive but life-saving drug Nusinersen (marketed as Spinraza) that Shalev desperately needs, he may not make it to his seventh birthday.
The rare and life threatening disease affects 80 children in Israel. Shalev cannot carry out basic day to day activities without assistance and is hospitalized often. At any moment his lungs may collapse and he requires a ventilator close by.
Recently, an agreement was reached between the Finance and Health ministries in which funding was provided for 15 severely ill children under the age of two, but Shalev was not among them.
So his parents, who only wish he could run and play at school like the rest of the children his age, have launched a campaign to raise the funds for the medication he needs.
Shalev needs six injections of Spinraza, with each injection costing NIS 350,000. So far, his parents have raised enough for one injection, but he needs another five in order to have a chance to recover.
Donations can be made on the Giyusim website or by phone: 03-6708563
