A MUM who lost her son to a Middle East suicide bomber has forged a lasting relationship with the child his organs saved.
Marsha Gladstone, 60, was devastated when teenage son Yoni Jesner was blown up on a bus in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2002.
The Glasgow medical student was taking a break from voluntary work in the West Bank area when he was killed.
Marsha, a teacher from Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, gave permission for 19-year-old Yoni’s organs to be donated and they helped save the life of a Palestinian girl who was dying of a genetic kidney disease.
The Jewish mum has since built a remarkable friendship with the family who owe everything to Yoni’s tragic death.
“The doctors asked us if we would allow his organs to be given to save others and I agreed immediately,” she said.
“They were given to Jewish people and a desperately ill little seven-year-old Arab girl, Yasmin Rumeileh, who was dying from kidney failure.
“It has been so comforting because Yoni was keen to become a doctor and save lives.”
But it’s not been easy for her family to keep in touch because of the political situation.
“There are some people who do not want to encourage this friendship,” she added.
“It so difficult to keep contact without drawing too much attention to ourselves.
“Not everyone agrees with it.
“But what’s important is that we work for peace.
“If Yoni’s death can become a catalyst for lasting peace, I would be happy.”
Yoni Jesner
Marsha, who has two other sons and two daughters, travelled to Jerusalem last week to keep up to date with her progress.
“Her family welcomed me into their home and I was delighted to see Yasmin had turned into a lovely young woman not much older than Yoni was when he was killed.
“It just makes us feel a little bit closer to Yoni.”
Marsha says that her surviving children completely endorse her decision to donate Yoni’s organs.
“We all feel it was the right thing to do. When someone’s life is at risk you do what is necessary to save them regardless of faith or culture.”
Yasmin has grown into a “strapping big lass” thriving with a healthy kidney.
As her future unfolds Marsha reflects on how her son’s life may have been lived.
The gran-of-13 says she constantly wonders who Yoni would have married and how his career would have panned out.
Yoni was the second youngest of Marsha’s five children.
“I look at my other children and see them grow up, marry and have families. But for me, Yoni will always remain 19.
“His life stopped then and I cope by trying to make good from a painful heartbreak.”
Yasmin’s father, Abu, who runs a tea and coffee shop in East Jerusalem, said he sees his and Marsha’s worlds as “one family”.
“They saved my daughter,” he said. “Part of their son is living in my daughter. We are all one people.”
Yoni, who had just won a place to study medicine at King’s College in London, was travelling in a crowded bus with his cousin Gideon Black, when they were targeted.
The pair were only in Tel Aviv to enjoy the Festival of the Tabernacles, a religious commemoration of the Jews returning to their homeland through the desert from Egypt.
Gideon suffered serious injuries in the attack, but survived.School donor campaign could help Ayesha beat leukaemia and save many more – click here to read
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