Sela swimming for the kids

YIGAL Sela beat cancer, survived a life-saving operation and was told he would never walk without crutches again, but tomorrow night (Australian time) he will swim for more than 22 kilometres to raise money for kids with cancer.

“I’m passionate about helping the kids,” Sela, who is the Zionist Federation of Australia’s director in Israel, said.

“If everyone just donates Chai – $18 – then I will achieve my dream of getting out of the water and hearing that we have reached the target of $100,000.”

When Sela was 47 years old he felt a pain in his knee. While doctors were operating they found a rare form of cancer.

“I called the doctor to make an appointment for the next week but I was told that I had to come in the next morning and I realised that it wasn’t a good situation.”

Sela had six months of chemo­therapy in 1999 and doctors attempted to implant a false knee three times but his body continued to reject it. Eventually they decided to put a metal rod in his leg, biologically connecting it to his body using bone from his good knee.

But he still wasn’t out of the woods and when he had a blood clot in his leg it took 14 hours and 16 pints of blood to save him.

“After the operation my wife asked the doctor if he was able to save my leg and replied ‘that is not the right question, we also saved his leg’ the doctor said. “It was a life-saving operation.”

Last year, 13 years after he beat cancer, Sela swam 1000 laps of a swimming pool, 25km, to raise money for children with cancer.

But because of the war with Gaza, he didn’t raise as much money as he would have liked and so this year he is going to swim the length of the Kinneret, which is 22 kilometres.

“My arms are going to be sore, my leg is going to hurt and it will be hard but I will just be thinking about one thing – those children.

“The children are the real heroes because they are fighting for their lives every day.”

Sela has raised more than $8500 so far and hopes the donations will come flooding in closer to the day or during the swim.

To make a donation, visit www.jewcer.com/project/swim-for-life-2.

JOSHUA LEVI

Yigal Sela during his 25km swim last year.