Even if I lose my voice, I want to convey my 25-year-old thoughts February 3, 11:29
Kanna Yamamoto, 25 years old.
She lives on her own and attends college while battling her illness that weakens her muscles all over her body.
She was informed by her doctor last December that she needed a tracheostomy, which would lead to her losing her voice.
With the help of those around her, she began holding online roundtables to share her own upbringing growing up in her orphanage and her dreams for the future.
What does she want to convey?
(Kumamoto Broadcasting Station Reporter Ayachi Fujisaki)
Meeting with Kana
In December of last year, when I visited a person who supports young people in Kumamoto Prefecture, he introduced me to a meeting.
“Tomorrow, a sick and bedridden
woman will hold an online round-table discussion for young people, so why don’t you listen to her story?”
I was told that I would soon lose my voice due to a tracheostomy.
The next day, I visited Kanna Yamamoto at her apartment in Kumamoto.
He was lying on the bed wearing a respirator, but his expression was bright and his voice was clear.
I asked him how he felt before the second round-table discussion.
Kanna Yamamoto:
“Some people tried to get to know me, and some listened to me with tears in their eyes.
Raised in an orphanage, fell ill after high school
Kanna Yamamoto was born in 1997 in Hyogo Prefecture.
Having difficulty living with her parents and relatives, she was raised in an orphanage in Kumamoto Prefecture from the age of five until she graduated from high school.
In high school, he was involved in both the brass band club and the track and field club.
Ms. Kana:
“I really enjoyed interacting with the friends at the facility. When I became a junior high school student, I started to understand my surroundings and started to feel embarrassed because I didn’t have a parent. But when I became an adult, I realized that it wasn't my fault because my father and mother are always there for each of us. I like it."
After graduating from high school, he joined the Ground Self-Defense Force.
From that time onwards, I started noticing changes in my body.
I was embarrassed by the numbness in my limbs and the difficulty in moving my body, so I went to the hospital and found out that I needed to be hospitalized.
After that, he was repeatedly hospitalized and discharged from the Self-Defense Forces in two years.
His doctors diagnosed him with a progressive weakness of muscles throughout his body.
He was hospitalized in a hospital in Hitoyoshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture, where he was undergoing rehabilitation, but his feelings were greatly depressed.
Three years ago, the heavy rain disaster that hit Hitoyoshi City.
Ms. Kana:
"In the event of a flood, you can't even do rehabilitation. I spent the whole day sleeping, so my feelings dropped and I couldn't motivate myself, so I wondered if it was getting worse and worse. think"
Encounter turned into a turning point, living alone for the first time
The turning point was an encounter with a consultation support specialist at a facility for the disabled in Yamaga City, which had newly entered.
Ms. Kana:
“The consultation support specialist was in a wheelchair, and I thought I might be able to do something about it.
Years ago, Shiori passed the entrance exam for the Social Welfare Department of a university in Kumamoto City.
During her freshman year, she took online classes, took oral exams, and earned all the credits she took.
In fact, Kana had another goal.
I live alone.
Since she had been living in her group until then, she wanted to coordinate her own life.
But it's not easy.
She herself consulted with acquaintances and government agencies, completed many procedures, and started living alone from March last year.
She faced many difficulties and hardships before realizing it, but she says that overcoming those experiences gave her peace of mind, and as a result, it was very meaningful.
Since I started living alone, I have been assisted by nurses and helpers three times a day.
It is said that being given ice cream, having a face washed, and being energized by casual interaction is also a reason to live.
I was told I would lose my voice
In December of last year, Kana was told by a doctor that she needed a tracheotomy because her throat muscles were weakening and her breathing was weakening.
She may also lose her voice along with it.
She said, "I want her to hear her 'voice' and 'thoughts' before she loses
. "
This day, which was her second time, started at 7:00 pm on a weekday and spoke through a screen to about 180 people of various ages who participated from all over the country.
Shirina: “I want young people to be able to rely on
others.The people who support them push their own ideals on them in order to build relationships of trust.
I think it's really important to continue listening to what the person being supported wants, and to continue to support them. I think that they are interested in me, and that they are worried about me, and I think it will be a relief material."
And I sent a message to the children who live in children's homes like me.
Ms.
Kana: I want people to trust and rely on adults.I think it's really the most ideal to be able to talk to someone who I can really trust rather than someone to talk to. There are things that you don't want people to talk about, and there are things that you can only talk about to that person, so I guess the adults who support you all over the place don't want you to say this, so in order to solve this, that person should share this with everyone. I think it's important to keep listening, so I can talk to children and talk to them.I want you to create such an environment and rely on adults. I think it will be
someone will definitely help
After finishing the round-table discussion that lasted about an hour, Shiori-san spoke as follows.
Ms. Kana:
"I want young people to be valued. Also, any child, no matter what kind of disability, has feelings, so I spoke with the thought that it would be nice if there were more adults who would snuggle up to them. ”
I asked him again how he was coping with his illness.
Ms. Kana:
“I used to hate facing illness and thought it was unacceptable. Now I accept it, not unacceptable. I don't have to worry about it at all.It may be an escape from reality, but I feel the gratitude of people that goes beyond that.
" But I'm really blessed with people, and someone will definitely support me, and then they'll pass it on.
Even after she loses her voice, Kana wants to continue to convey her experiences and thoughts by using tools such as gaze input.
A message that can only be created by Kana-san
On the first day I visited Kanna, I was very worried about how much I should listen to her, and whether I would get sick.
However, she greeted me with a bright smile that immediately eased my tension, and told me frankly about her upbringing and her thoughts about the surgery.
At the round-table discussion, there was a strong message that only Shiori could create for the young people who are suffering from difficult situations and the adults around them.
She says she wants to do something after the surgery that may cause her to lose her voice.
Kanna Yamamoto:
"I want to be a person who can live the same way as I do now, go to university, graduate, and think about the future of the children in the facility together. I think it would be great if I could do something like that.I would like to work with the children in the facility to find their dreams.I think it would be a dream to teach them that it is important to have a dream. ”
Through repeated interviews, I felt Kana's strength and positivity as she worked hard with the support of those around her to achieve her wishes and goals one by one.
She would like to continue to convey her challenges in the future.
Kumamoto Broadcasting Station Reporter
Ayachi Fujisaki Joined the station
in 2021
After working as a police and judicial reporter, currently covering Hitoyoshi City and railway restoration, problems faced by young people, and welfare for the disabled.