13-year-old heart transplant recipient returns home

The Okinawan heart-transplant recipient, 13-year-old Rai Matsushima from Chatan Town, has returned home to Okinawa.

Rai, who underwent the heart transplant operation in the U.S. because he suffered from a serious cardiac disease that could not be treated in Japan, returned to Okinawa on Aug. 25th.

According to officials at ‘The Charity of Saving Rai’, a support charity organization set up in Okinawa to raise funds for the operation and its after care in the U.S., Rai and his parents flew back to Okinawa and went to a hospital for a checkup where doctors evaluated his physical condition. He is planning to meet the press some day early September.

Miyuki Toyama, one of the joint representatives of the Charity of Saving Rai, said, “There’s no problem with his physical condition. But the climate in Okinawa and the U.S. is different. So, after his body adjusts to the change in the climate, we will deliver a report in front of everyone.”

17:27 28 Mar , 2024