On Sunday night, global superstar Lionel Messi and the rest of the Argentina soccer team, in Israel for a friendly match in Jerusalem with the national team of Uruguay, met Canadian-Israeli philanthropist Sylvan Adams, the man behind “Save A Child’s Heart,” who was accompanied by a group of children from Senegal, Ethiopia and Zanzibar to meet the stars.
The team arrived at the Tel Aviv Hilton Hotel after a long flight from Saudi Arabia, but the players interrupted their dinner at the hotel dining room, to hear about Save A Child’s Heart.
The charity brings children to Israel from Africa and other parts of the world for life-changing heart surgery at Wolfson Hospital.
This week, Save a Child’s Heart is working alongside doctors in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to perform life-saving heart surgery and catheterization for a 30 children. To date, Save A Child’s Heart has treated more than 5,000 children from 62 countries.
The players applauded and cheered the program and later met some of the children who had come to Israel for surgery. Each child received an official Argentine team soccer ball and shirt signed by the players.
Sylvan Adams commented, “The Jewish nation works to save people from around the world. I am proud to lead, alongside the best Israeli medical professionals, this extraordinary project of life-saving cardiac surgery.”