larger than life USA - a non profit organization for Israeli children battling cancer

The Story of Roi Goldman
Published in Yediot America, December 2007, By Michal Daniel

It was winter in New York as Yehudit and Eliezer Goldman stood with their son Roi at the entrance of Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan, and realized they had a problem. They felt helpless as they were unable to effectively communicate in English with the hospital’s staff. They found themselves alone in a busy city they were visiting for the first time. Anxious and concerned, they called Dr. Shulamit Katzman, an Israeli doctor they had met the previous summer in Miami, where they had come to meet with one of the best specialists in head and neck cancer. They told Dr. Katzman about their problem and asked if it would be possible to find someone who could accompany them and translate what the doctors said.

Dr. Katzman called Netta Nathaniel, the new executive director of the organization Larger Than Life USA, and asked for her help. At the hospital Netta found the scared family: “Two minutes after we got into the doctor’s office he asked me to make it clear to the parents that no doctor would be able to operate on Roi. How do you tell parents they have to separate from their son?"

Despite the doctor’s pessimism, the parents decided to proceed with an intensive treatment, which actually reduced the size of Roi’s cancer and eased his pain. During the eight weeks that the family stayed in New York they were supported by the friends of Larger Than Life. The support began with an apartment arranged for the family in Brooklyn, continued with the devoted attention they received from volunteers, and ended with the promise to include Roi on a trip to Disneyland as soon as he began to recover.

Yehudit said: “I was embarrassed to ask for help. I had no idea they were so generous. For the first two weeks I was here by myself and got very depressed. Then I the friends of Larger Than Life and I was surprised by the goodness and the will to help. It is very heartwarming.” A strange coincidence also gave the family some hope when Nathaniel arranged for Roi to meet with the Dalai Lama’s doctor, who visits New York once a year for a week.

I went with Nathaniel to meet the family in the Borough Park apartment a few days before they left. Roi, the 16-year-old teenager sitting on the sofa, said hello. Roi is a courageous child whose life during the past year became a series of chemotherapies, radiation, examinations, pain relievers, and pain. One day in August 2006 his life became consumed by pain. It began with a small blister in his mouth that appeared to be harmless but was part of the cancer that led to the removal of two-thirds of this young boy’s tongue.

Roi went through forty radiation treatments at Beth Israel Hospital, and his parents sad that the treatments helped; they reduced the inflammation in his face and relieved the pain.

The family returned to Israel and I can’t stop thinking about Netta’s promise to Roi that he would be on the list for the next Larger Than Life trip. “The next trip to Disney World is by the end of February,” she said, holding his hand. “You have to stand up by the end of February".

(February 2008)

“The department was very sorry to hear about the death of 16-year-old Roi Goldman, who died of cancer this Monday. Goldman and his parents came to New York two months ago in order to receive advanced brain cancer treatments. The family received assistance from Larger Than Life. Many volunteers helped the family during their stay in New York and accompanied them on their hospital visits. Roi passed away at Tel Hashomer Hospital, Israel, and to his funeral came all of his friends from school in Rishon Le-Tzion, as well as people who did not know him but who had heard his tragic story. Roi’s mother, Yehudit, said this week that she did not forget those who had helped her as much as they could during their stay in New York".