About Patrick
Hello, my name is Patrick Ryuki Sakamoto, I am 13 years old and recently I was diagnosed with Hepatocellular Carcinoma, that is, I have several tumours in my liver cells.
Unfortunately, because it has reached 70% of my liver, only a transplant can help me. And this is a race against time, about which I will explain to you soon.
But before I tell you how you can help me, I would like to tell you a little about myself. I was born in Iwata (Shizuoka-JP), where I still live today with my mother and younger sister, who is 9 years old. I'm passionate about animals, especially birds, I admire their freedom and I think it is beautiful to see them flying from one branch to another.
I love studying, I am currently attending the 2nd year at Toyota Minami Jr. High School, my favourite subject is Arts.
At the beginning of this year I felt abdominal pains, we went to investigate and on 1st March they did a biopsy. Seven days later I was diagnosed with cancer. Since 25th February I have been admitted to Shizuoka General Hospital in Shizuoka City. Every day my mother drives more than 1 hour to take care of me.
Many friends in the community have helped us in various ways, in addition to the company where my mother works. We are surrounded by good-hearted people, thank goodness.
I am already starting the 5th chemotherapy session. The doctors said that it is only possible to do 8 sessions and that is precisely why I need to do the transplant as soon as possible.
To be able to perform this surgery, I need your help, because the costs are very high, the Hoken (social insurance) does not cover it and unfortunately, we cannot pay for the transplant.
The HOKEN (social insurance) does not cover the costs of transplantation, because of the laws and rules defined by the Japanese government: the “Milan Criteria” (in transplantation medicine, these are a set of criteria applied when considering patients with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma for liver transplantation, with the intention of curing their disease). The patient can only use the insurance for the transplant if he/she has 1 tumour of up to 5cm or 3 with up to 3cm.
As my situation exceeds the criteria, the insurance does not cover the costs of the transplant, both the donor (my uncle) and the recipient (me).
My uncle who is in Japan will be my donor, because by Japanese law, one is allowed to be a donor only if they are a third degree relative or closer.
I am racing against time to save my life. Can you help me?
Any contribution is welcome and matters a lot.
Sharing also helps and I would be very grateful.
Thank you for reading this far and getting to know a bit of my story.
I hope to bring good news soon.
About the transplant
The HOKEN (social insurance) does not cover the costs of transplantation, because of the laws and rules defined by the Japanese government: the “Milan Criteria” (in transplantation medicine, these are a set of criteria applied when considering patients with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma for liver transplantation, with the intention of curing their disease). The patient can only use the insurance for the transplant if he/she has 1 tumour of up to 5cm or 3 with up to 3cm.
As my situation exceeds the criteria, the insurance does not cover the costs of the transplant, both the donor (my uncle) and the recipient (me).