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bus overturns on the
Jerusalem-Jerico
Highway. A mother
dies and Mor, her 2-
year-old child is paralyzed.
Itamar, 17, falls 150 feet over a
cliff while on a climbing expedition
in the Negev. He suffers head trau-
ma, fractures and is in a deep coma.
Their local hospitals can keep
them alive, but nothing more. What
will happen to these children?
On the outskirts of Jerusalem,

down a winding road sits an unas-
suming two-story brick structure.
Outside is a courtyard and cement
wheelchair ramps. Inside, it holds
miracles.
The building is the ALYN
Woldenberg Family Pediatric
Hospital and Rehabilitation Center
for Physically Handicapped
Children. The recipients of its life-
changing treatments, equipment and
therapies are the children of Israel
who are victims of congenital ortho-
pedic diseases, burns and injuries.
Children like Mor and Itamar.
The name ALYN is an acronym

from the Hebrew: Agudav Le'ezrat
Yeladim Olachim, meaning Society
to Aid Handicapped Children. It is
the only hospital of its type in Israel.
In ALYN Hospital, one may see
children with sophisticated head-
phones involved in hearing training
exercises, a toy-car with a joystick
adaptation for movement, a comput-
er keyboard controlled by a rod held
in the mouth, a child operating a
camera via controls on electric
wheelchair armrests.
What a visitor won't see is anyone
dressed in an intimidating, starched
white jacket. Dr. Shirley Meyer,

director general at ALYN, says,
"Children are terrified of white coats
and I have a feeling that parents are

All children admitted to the hos-
pital are evaluated by staff from
every department. This means
physicians, psychologists, social
workers, hydro, music, physio,
occupational and speech therapists,
each setting up individual treatment
for every patient.
In addition to the wide range of
professional staff available to the
children, the hospital is fully
equipped. A biomechanical engi-

4/23
1999

Detroit Jewish News

41

