Senior walking for his life

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on August 9, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge man who continues to beat the odds of his diagnosis by walking multiple times a day, has accumulated millions of steps and continues to add to the count.
After receiving a Stage 4 cirrhosis of the liver diagnosis, a condition in which the liver is scarred and permanently damaged, as scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue and prevents the liver from working normally, 93-year-old Sunao Ayukawa changed his eating habits and started to walk.
Ayukawa received his diagnosis around six years ago, and at the time his doctor told him that if he changed his eating habits and started exercising more, he could extend his life by one or two years.
“I was getting jaundice and water in my body, and I was getting itchy all over and my doctor didn’t know exactly what was causing all this, but give me a blood test and this showed that I have problem with my liver,” said Ayukawa.
He said that after visiting a specialist in Calgary, he received his cirrhosis diagnosis, which unfortunately has no cure.
At that point Ayukawa decided to move to Black Rock Terrace, and said it has been very helpful for keeping a good diet and having the ability to exercise.
“I started choosing what I should eat. My doctor said I could what I wanted but if it bothers me I should not eat it. So that’s what I’ve been doing, and then I start walking and I set my goal at about 10,000 steps,” said Ayukawa.
 He said he is able to reach his goal before lunch. When he spoke to the Herald on Tuesday morning, before 11:30 a.m. he had already walked over 23,000 steps.
 “Usually I walk before breakfast, I walk after breakfast, I walk before lunch, and I don’t do too much walking after lunch because is too warm. But I still walk inside when it’s hot out or if it rains, or if it is too cold,” said Ayukawa.
He said he has only been tracking his steps for nearly a year-and-a-half, but in that time he has surpass eight million steps. The app that tracks his steps stated Tuesday that he has walked the equivalent of four trips from New York to Chicago.
Ayukawa said that walking is his main source of exercise but he also enjoys cycling with his favourite route being between his residence and Henderson Lake and north Lethbridge.
“When I first bought my bike (with three wheels), I told my daughter that I would not go very far, but after a while I start going to Henderson and back and I’ve been to the westside too, but that is a hard hill to go up,” said Ayukawa.
He said he enjoys exercising because it allows him to meet people and keeps him healthy.
“I walk to live,” said Ayukawa.

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