Written by Sakae Io,
Translated by Hikari Ikenaga,

I became paralyzed on the right side with hemiplesia because of a brain infarction and was admitted to the hospital where I stayed for fifty days to recover. The doctor told me, “the problem is inadequate blood flow to the left forehead”. First, I had intravenous drips for one week. For the next two weeks, I. took medicine. Still there were no signs of recovery. I worried about my condition. At that time, I had a vision of Tokujiro Namikoshi sensei who came up said to me, "Mr. Io, your left hand is free." I realized then that I should do self shiatsu immediately. However, I could use only my left hand. I tried using my fingers in many ways to do self shiatsu from the cervical to the head. As the doctor had indicated, I tried especially to improve the blood flow to the left side of the head. As a child, when I had a headache, my mother used to press my head (from the top to the side). After that I slept very well. Anyway, I did shiatsu for two weeks, and then, what a surprise I had! My fingers began to move, next my toes, and two or three days later, the elbow and knee could flex! I was very happy. It was like dream come true. I was very thankful for shiatsu. After three weeks in bed, I could walk with crutches. After four weeks, I could climb the stairs. My doctor was very surprised that I recovered so quickly. I said to him "that is because I did rehabilitation, but also, I did my best with self shiatsu". It seemed as if the doctor didn’t believe my explanation. After six weeks, my condition was very good and I didn’t need crutches to walk. Another thing, there was a forty two year old man next in the bed next to mine. He stayed there for three months and walked somehow with an artificial limb and crutch. I sympathized with him and asked if I could try shiatsu without consulting the doctor. I did thirty minutes of shiatsu followed by a ten minute break, repeated for a total of three hours. After that, he could stretch the knee joint. He was very happy and thereafter, he did self shiatsu and stretched the knee that night and the next morning. Then he practiced walking with only crutches. (without the artificial limb).  I said to him "please be careful walking because, if you slip, you might get a fracture." The doctor told him to wear the artificial limb when walking. However, he forgot our promise of confidentiality and told the doctor, "Yesterday, Mr. Io gave me shiatsu and then my leg could move!" At last the doctor believed in the effectiveness of shiatsu. He also asked me to teach thru Shiatsu to the rehabilitation doctors.

How wonderful shiatsu is!!