The Gift of Eihab Falah

By late 2018, Eihab Falah was extremely ill. The 25-year-old Israeli, a member of the Arabic-speaking Druze community, had a rare, aggressive form of brain cancer. Massive doses of chemotherapy and radiation had done little to halt the disease's progress. Unable to help further, Eihab's doctors in Israel proffered painkillers and the telephone number of a hospice; surgery, they said, wasn't an option. His parents and four siblings refused to accept the prognosis. Eihab's two sisters -- doctors themselves -- combed the medical world for help. There have only been about 350 documented instances of the cancer, sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma. But ultimately, they found a surgeon in Pittsburgh who had operated on a few such cases. The surgeon agreed to take on Eihab as a patient, and the family prepared to fly to America, anxious but hopeful.