“I see my face once every two months” writes the late Yuri Hayashi, ALS patient

By Barrier Free Japan

August 1 2020

By Barrier Free Japan

July 30 2020

It was reported on Thursday 24 July 2020, that two doctors were arrested by the Kyoto Prefectural Police for allegedly murdering a woman who had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, at the patient’s request.

The deceased, a woman aged 51 named Yuri Hayashi, ran a blog and a Twitter account.

In a blog posted on June 6 2018 entitled ‘I see my face once every two months’, whilst describing about how she has a hairdresser come to her house only once every two months, Hayashi writes about how she feels she hasn’t “accepted my illness yet,”’ seven years after being diagnosed with ALS.

“It’s a sad story, but I haven’t accepted my illness yet. It’s been nearly seven years.

It was I was still walking, it was probably about five years ago. I first saw a patient in a rehabilitation clinic who had a fairly advanced medical condition. It’s so shocking that I can’t forget their appearance. I thought I couldn’t stand until that much. A few years later, my condition is already close to that patient. I hate to see such a figure with a kitchen paper and a tube of continuous suction in my mouth so that saliva won’t drip, so I don’t usually look in a mirror. Only once every two months, a visiting hairdresser who gives me a haircut shows me the mirror at the end of the cut. Looked at my face for 2 seconds after 2 months. I’m always worried about how different things have changed. Today was that day. I was scared and didn’t look good, but maybe it hasn’t changed much. I always have wrinkles between my eyebrows, a grumpy face, and even if I try to laugh, my muscles are tight and I don’t smile.“