Takumi’s Heart was born in March when my good friend, Takumi Tanaka, was unable to afford medical treatment for his heart condition after being beaten and expelled from his home. I set up a website (takumisheart.com) and did my best to raise enough money to pay for whatever care Takumi needed. There were fund raisers, YouTube videos, Twitter updates, a Facebook group with over 2000 members, national newspaper coverage, and most recently a mention on CNN’s website. Takumi received letters, cards, and little gifts from all over the world which he treasured. I spent every weekend with him during those months. Sometimes he would be healthy enough for us to go out on the town to eat or get coffee, and other times he would be almost comatose for the entire weekend, or blind, or deaf, or both. We took each day as it came and did what needed to be done. In one sense, the effort was entirely successful. From that day in March until Takumi received his final heart surgery in Tokyo on June 12th, Takumi did not have to go without any procedures or medicine the doctors recommended for him. He had what he needed. But the damage that had been done by his multiple heart attacks early in the year was too severe.
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