Newspaper articles of judo injuries resulting in death: 1984 2010 [38]
Ryoko Shimizu promotes use of AED; her son’s death will not be wasted
The Asahi Shimbun, Nigata
October 8, 2004
She works hard to promote the use of AED (Automated External Defibrillator), which is a device that delivers an electric shock to re-establish the heart when it pumps little or no blood. She could not forget what the physician had said, “If there were an AED your son may have survived.” Shinobu (16 at the time), who was a student of Nigata Industrial High School, collapsed during a judo class two and a half years ago in 2004. At the hospital her son was ash white and covered with tubes. He arched his back when an electric shock was delivered. His heart, which had stopped beating for 20 minutes, recovered once but he remained unconscious and died 3 days later. For about one year after her son’s sudden death Ryoko shut herself at home. She learned about AED on the internet, which was her son’s sole friend. She learned that more than 70 % of the people with ventricular fibrillation will survive with AED, and that it will also be effective for those with heart failure and myocardial infarction. Only a few AEDs were installed in Nigata Prefecture at the time. In the fall of 2005 she invited 8 friends to start the organization “AED promotion in Nigata”. They lobbied the city and prefectural assemblies and collected signatures to appeal the need to increase AED installation. “Eventually people will think that it’s only a slight illness. My son’s death will not be wasted,” she said as she moved onward.
