We have some sad news to share with our community. On July 15th, 2021, a StayRunning team member, Yuta Fukuzawa, was seriously injured in an unfortunate accident playing basketball with his friends. He was rushed to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Upon arrival, he underwent an emergency procedure to relieve pressure off of his head and neck. Doctor's diagnosed his injury as a dislocation of the C6/C7 vertebrae, and both a neck and spinal fusion were necessary.
A week since the accident the whole community is praying for Yuta to heal. He was a passionate member of Interlake High School's cross-country and track and field teams. He loved to run the 1600m and 3200m races, and he was the comedic relief during stressful races. As one of StayRunning's first team members, Yuta helped coordinate running events, manage our physical therapist relationships, and write blog posts. With his positive and humorous attitude at every meeting, he was invaluable to our organization.
Throughout all his work on StayRunning, Yuta always loved to inspire new faces to start running. To show our support for Yuta, we are asking our community to send positive messages to Yuta and optionally "pledge" to run a certain number of miles. The pledge, with your name and a small message for Yuta will be posted on our online pledge board. We want as many people to pledge for Yuta, to show that he is loved and supported by his community. It will no doubt make him smile knowing that he's inspiring people to run🙂
*Note by pledging you are not committing any monetary donation*
All you have to do is head to (https://stayrunning.org/pledge-now) and fill out a pledge form for Yuta! Then you can see your pledge along with all the other on the pledge board. As a team, we'll be visiting Yuta in the hospital to show him the pledge board and posters sometime in August. In addition, please donate to Yuta's GoFundMe (https://gofund.me/afd4ea3f) if you are able to.
Below are live updates of Yuta's condition. As of August 3rd, 2021.
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Everyone who thinks of Yuta,
These days, Yuta does rehabilitation every day.
In his head he understood most everything about his disability. But as rehabilitation progresses, he must take it as a reality.
He cannot use his fingers.
He cannot stand, walk, run even though move his legs by himself.
He cannot maintain the blood pressure that he should be able to maintain naturally depending on his position.
Cannot regulate his own body temperature.
Cannot urinate or defecate himself.
My respected doctor taught me.
The etymology of” rehabilitation” seems to be the Latin words “re” (again) and “habitare” (make fit).
And “fit “means both “suitable” and “healthy.”
In other words, rehabilitation may be interpreted as “make you healthy again” and/ or “make you suitable for your life again.”
So, Yuta uses a thick stylus to write on the iPad instead of typing with fingers.
He moves (is moved) to the sitting position from where he slept very slowly, sprinkles supporters on the trunk and legs to maintain blood pressure.
Sometimes cools the body with ice bags to fit.
He has been learning many unknown things.
Thank you for your help.
Yuka Fukazawa
Kyota Fukazawa
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With Love,
The StayRunning Team