The difficult journey from a diagnosis of leukemia through life-saving treatment at the Hadassah Medical Center began for Shahar at about age six when she began to feel extremely tired in ballet class and found herself wanting to sleep an abnormal amount.

Her father and mother, Amos and Esther Israel, took Shahar for many examinations. And then they discovered a lump.

Because Esther Israel is a cancer survivor herself and because Hadassah saved her life, she and Amos took Shahar to Hadassah, where she was cared for by Dr. Michael Weintraub, head of Pediatric Hemato-Oncology and his health care team. As he explains, when Shahar came to Hadassah, her life was in danger. She went through a very difficult time because the process toward cure is arduous for both the child and the parents.

But, today, she is a healthy pre-teenager–free of leukemia. Each year, Shahar (which means “dawn” in Hebrew) comes back to Hadassah’s pediatric oncology department to speak with parents and their children, providing wonderful, uplifting evidence of life after leukemia. As she says: “I dance; I have sports; I do everything; I am like a new Shahar”!

At Hadassah America’s 2014 Convention this month, Shahar celebrated her Bat Mitzvah with the delegates in Las Vegas, Nevada. Click below to meet Shahar and hear her story.