TAKASHI SHIROGANE

tws ; death , terminal illness (e-dmd) , abduction , torture , ptsd !

Takashi Shirogane made his entrance into the world as dramatic as possible by refusing to breathe for the first few moments, even as doctors tried as hard as they could to stimulate him. Veteran parents Kaito and Akari Shirogane were worried sick, wondering if they had lost their only boy and last child. Fortunately, the newborn began screaming the hospital room down after fifteen agonizing and terrifying minutes, with surprisingly no brain deficits considering how long he’d gone without oxygen. Akari and Kaito were relieved, finally able to hold their boy and enjoy being parents of now five children. His four sisters, Emi, Tomomi, Jun, and Akira, were over the moon about having a baby brother, and the family settled in nicely after bringing Takashi home.

When Takashi was five, he began exhibiting problems with his gait, and he often had difficulty climbing up and down the porch steps of the family’s home. Kaito and Akari were concerned as this had never occurred in their girls, and with this being their last child, they wanted to make sure that he got the help he needed. Upon the discovery that no doctor in Japan could make an accurate assessment after a year of seeing a range of different specialists, the family made the move to the United States, making a home in Arizona with his maternal grandfather Takei Shirogane. Soon after, little Takashi was finally diagnosed with Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy at seven years old.

Takashi was fitted with an electrostimulator bracelet at the age of eight, and his condition was closely monitored throughout his life, with the most attention being focused on his heart. The majority of his childhood and teenage years were spent with him and his grandfather, who had legally adopted him, at the hospital, as his parents had decided to travel back to Japan with his sisters due to homesickness. He and Takei kept in contact with them frequenly through video chat, though. At fifteen, he began to experience arrhythmias and bradycardia, which made the doctors and his family concerned. When he turned sixteen, he was given the go-ahead for a pacemaker to be placed. It was a risky surgery, but he pulled through flawlessly.

However, the family knew it was only a temporary solution. They were told time and time again that this form of MD would only get worse until, eventually, he’d need a wheelchair to get around and need help with feeding, dressing, and bathing himself.

IMPORTANT PORTRAYAL NOTES

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