The soldier was tragically killed in a car accident, but saved five lives after his death.
Ofek Klugman, an IDF soldier who served in an elite unit and died in a car accident one week ago, saved five lives by donating his organs.
Klugman, a resident of Nazareth Illit in the Galilee region, was killed in a traffic accident last Saturday while riding on a motorcycle with a friend. He was evacuated to Rambam Hospital in Haifa after suffering critical injuries. Klugman eventually succumbed to his injuries.
After his parent’s agreed to donate his organs for transplant, five patients got a new lease on life by receiving Klugman’s heart, liver, and other vital organs.
A 65-year-old man from Kiryat Ata who had suffered multiple heart attacks received Klugman’s heart, while Klugman’s liver was donated to a 51-year-old man being treated in Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital.
The soldier’s lungs and kidneys were donated to patients in hospitals in Petah Tikva. Both of Klugman’s lungs were given to a 35-year-old woman in Beilinson Hospital, while his kidneys were donated to a 15-year-old boy in Schneider Hospital and a 47-year-old man in Beilinson.
Klugman, who represented Israel at the Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships in 2014 and was the country’s youth champion, won the bronze medal in the under 66 kilogram (145 pound) weight division.
When he enlisted in the IDF, Klugman volunteered for the elite Egoz reconnaissance unit, saying that he wanted to contribute as much as possible to Israel’s security.
“We have no doubt that this is what he would have wanted,” his father Gennady said. “He always wanted to help people and had a golden heart. We are moved by the fact that he did not die in vain, and from the immense tragedy we are experiencing he was able to save lives.”
