TEDx Talks - END ALS: Hiro Fujita at TEDxTokyo 2014
When life throws you a curve and normalcy becomes complicated, what will you do with it? Hiro Fujita was a normal guy with no problems and then was thrown the curve of an ALS diagnosis. ALS is a disease that has a fast-paced progression. It didn't take long before Hiro became wheel-chair bound and lost his ability to use his voice. What is amazing is his attitude. He says his voice is now louder since ALS took his voice away. Hiro is on mission to END ALS. One thing he is doing is trying to get clinical trials more accessible because there are a lack of trials being started and the ones that are started are hard to get into due to doctors not wanting to take the risks.
I like this TED Talk because it actually opened my mind to clinical trials. Before watching, I would've probably sided with the doctors that withhold clinical trials because of the risk of loss of life. But after hearing Hiro say that some with ALS are ready for euthanasia and want to end their life, the risk of loss becomes minimal. I think that if someone is willing to risk it, then we need a mass force of doctors and researchers to come forward with clinical trials. Each trial will get us closer to actually ending ALS.
I chose this video because I have now known 2 people to die from ALS yet I still don't know much about the disease itself. I wanted to further my knowledge about the disease and see where we as a society stand in trying to end it.
One of the cool aspects of this video was being able to relate what we've learned in class and apply it to real life scenarios. Watching this video, I was able to recognize and identify spasticity. The video also showed pictures of what Hiro looked like prior to his diagnosis and I could see the changes in muscle tone. It's important for us as OT students to observe these things before we are in fieldwork and actually working with it so I suggest watching this video and listening to Hiro talk about his experiences.
End ALS: Hiro Fujita at TEDxTokyo 2014. YouTube, 7 June 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIBmKX4UnaE
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