From the parents 　　　December 11, 2008

On the morning of December 10th (American time), Soutaro's condition changed, and he received immediate treatment. Although resuscitation was attempted, his heart rate did not recover. At 9:50 A.M., Soutaro went to heaven.

We would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for enabling us to come this far.

We would like to report what we can as of this moment.

We had high hopes for Soutaro's treatment until the very end. The day before he passed away, he was registered as "Status I A (top level)" on the transplantation waiting list.
We had been told by his brain surgeon that Soutaro would be ready for the transplantation in about 2 weeks.

He would sometimes have a smile on his face, but his heart was barely functioning. Soutaro's smiles enabled us to keep up our spirits.
Soutaro was able to try his best because he was supported by so many people. We feel that it is now time for us to try our best to overcome this grief.

Soutaro's transplantation gave us emotional support. Without hope, the past 6 months wouldn't have been possible. Although it turned out to be a sad and disappointing result, we could never thank everyone enough for giving us hope for Soutaro's future.

After deciding on Soutaro's heart transplantation, we have serious considered and tried to accept what it means to receive an organ. While waiting to receive an organ from a donor, our last hope was to donate Soutaro's cornea, so that someone somewhere could look at the same sky as us. In Soutaro's state of illness, it is possible to donate the valve and cornea. Unfortunately, this wasn't possible. In Soutaro's case, donation of his valve is difficult was judged to be difficult because of its functional condition. His cornea couldn't be donated either.

In Japan, the circumstances surrounding children's transplantation is very difficult because of legal and financial problems. We earnestly hope that in the future, progress will be seen not only in the fields of the law and medical transplantation, but also in researches on regenerative medicine and treatment of cardiomyopathy.

We are sorry that this is all we can say at the present moment. Our emotions and reason are still in a confused state. We are taking Soutaro back to Japan. We are now arranging the schedule. We will be giving updates when we have new information.

Lastly, we would like to thank you again for all the support and understanding you have given us.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Keiichiro and Namie Nakazawa

URGENT NOTICE

12/11/08
We have been notified that Sou-chan passed away early this morning (Japan time). We are ending the fund-raising campaign as of today. We would like to express our deepest gratitude for all your support and understanding. As for the Life Saving Team's future policies, we will be reporting them at a later date. Thank you for your understanding.

Sou-chan's schedule to the US

Sou-chan's schedule to the US Thanks to your support, we now have least necessary money to pay the "deposit" and "travel expenses." We have started to make arrangements to go to the US on Friday, December 5th. This is all due to your warm support. Although we cannot thank you in person, we would like to express our deep and sincere gratitude for your support. We still have not reached the financial goal which will cover the supplemental medical expenses and the expenses necessary during the Nakazawa family's stay in the US. Therefore, the Life Saving Team for Sou-chan will continue the fund raising campaign. We would like to ask for your continued support.

Message from the Parent

Our long-awaited firstborn son, Soutaro, was born on August 24, 2007.
I was present at his birth, and when Soutaro gave his first cry, tears were rolling down my cheeks. My heart was full of gratitude to my wife and newborn son, and I had never felt happier in my life. We named him "Soutaro" in hope that he would grow up wise and healthy. (The kanji character "sou" means "wise") Soutaro indeed grow up in good health. He laughed a lot. He played a lot. As he learned how to roll over and began to crawl, we looked forward to the day he would pull himself up on things. When he started switching from breast milk to baby food, we wondered about his likes and dislikes. As he began speaking words such as "ah ah ah" and "tai tai tai", we got excited thinking about whether he would say first - "papa" or "mama." Our hearts were filled with joy as we watched him grow up.
It was in May that he started frequenting a pediatrician, showing symptoms of colds and bronchitis. Then, on June 29th (10 months old), a date I would never forget, he came down with a high fever in the middle of the night. We rushed him to a university hospital. After the doctors took an X-ray, we were told that Soutaro's "heart is bigger than the normal size." He was immediately admitted for further tests. After an echo test, Soutaro was diagnosed with a severe case of "idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy." All I could think was "Why? Why Soutaro?"

As I watched my son on a ventilator with numerous tubes attached to him, and gradually losing weight, I wanted to trade places with him if I could. I was frustrated because I knew that wasn't possible. I wept every time I looked at photographs of when Soutaro was still healthy. We were initially told that 2 weeks may be the limit. In answer to the doctors, nurses and staff's exhausting efforts, Soutaro fought for his life and we were able to celebrate his first birthday. Sometimes he was well enough to smile.
However, even after 2 months in the hospital, his heart function showed no sign of recovery. In fact, the echo test results showed that it was worse than at the time of his admission. When the doctor told us that if he continued not to respond to the various medications, Soutaro may not make it to the end of this year, we set our minds on our son's heart transplantation.
Soutaro cannot express his will to receive transplantation. He cannot even cry or make sounds. But as I watch him fight for his life, it seems to me as though Soutaro's is expressing his passion for life with his entire body and eyes.
Sadly, young children like Soutaro cannot receive organ donation in Japan. Transplantation surgeries abroad cost an immense amount of money, which we could never afford on our own. Even as I write this, Soutaro is fighting his illness. If we, as parents, could save our son's life, we want to try every means possible. We want to hear Soutaro say "papa, mama." We want to see him walk, play and eat. There isn't any time left for Soutaro. We want to let him receive heart transplantation surgery abroad urgently. That is our strong wish.
My wife and I feel helpless about not being able to save Soutaro on our own. Please forgive us for asking for support and cooperation from people we have not yet met.
We ask for your kind understanding and support. Thank you.

Keiichiro Nakazawa (father) & Namie (mother)