Once active in kendo, 14-year-old Michiru Kitamura lost her spirit after having a leg amputated due to cancer and wearing a prosthetic leg.

But on a recent day in August, Michiru was participating in an event organized by the Start Line Tokyo track and field club in the capital’s Arakawa Ward.

Michiru, a second-year junior high school student from Kagoshima, ran with a woman using a prosthetic leg who spoke to her, saying, “Swing your arms strongly to keep your balance.”

The day was special for Michiru because it was the first time in two years for her to engage in sports since her leg was amputated. On top of that, she had no one around her who had an artificial limb like she did.

Although Michiru seemingly felt tense at first, her expression gradually became relaxed.

“There are so many people who have the same problem as I do,” the teen said. “So many people were running in front of me.”

People who have lost their lower limbs due to disorders or injuries are enjoying sports at athletics grounds in Tokyo once a month.

The session is believed to help them regain their zest for living.

“I want patients to find hope even in difficulties,” said prosthetist and orthotist Fumio Usui, 64, head of the research division at the Tetsudou Kousaikai artificial limb support center, referring to the activity he started more than 30 years ago.

On the day that Michiru participated, more than 50 people, including those whose legs have been removed, their families and prosthetists and orthotists, took part. It was the first time for 10 of the participants to join the Start Line Tokyo activity.

LIFE-ALTERING AMPUTATION

Michiru was forced to have her right leg amputated because of osteosarcoma when she was a sixth-grader in elementary school.

Although Michiru had practiced kendo since she was in the third grade to such an extent that she competed in a nationwide contest of the martial art, her life drastically changed after developing the condition.

She came to speak less and often wore a blank expression. Wanting to encourage her daughter, Michiru’s mother, Miki, 39, learned of the Start Line Tokyo event and traveled to the capital with her.

Another objective of their visit is to seek experts’ advice on Michiru’s artificial leg.

The sports session was started when Usui, who works at the support center that is famous for the development of prosthetic legs for sports, reached out to young amputees around him in 1988 in hopes of providing them an opportunity to “do physical exercise.”

While they initially engaged in swimming to keep their physical burden low, a track-and-field club was established in 1991 after artificial limbs for running made of carbon--the cutting-edge material at the time--were imported from the United States.

When a woman in her 20s whom Usui treated then tested the carbon tool, Usui saw her take five to six steps forward smoothly with an assistant. The woman, who thought she would never be able to run, exploded in joy with tears in her eyes.

“I decided to organize an opportunity to share the pleasure of running when seeing her smile,” Usui said.

As a sports club to help amputees run with prosthetic legs, Start Line Tokyo currently holds exercise meetings at athletics grounds throughout the capital once a month with a wide range of people from children to elderly individuals participating.

Usui and other prosthetists and orthotists are also in attendance to have patients try artificial legs for sports use and offer other chances for amputees to start engaging in physical activity.

One can receive guidance on how to run on prosthetic legs as well as an artificial limb adjustment service. The sports session also serves as a “recreational place” for people suffering from difficulties to find others troubled by similar problems.

In the August session, Michiru was among the participants who tried prosthetic legs specially designed for running for the first time.

“The tool allowed me to move more drastically than I expected,” she said with a smile. “It was fun.”

TAKING THE FIRST STEP

Usui noted that some people with artificial limbs have “not only physical difficulties but also mental ones.”

“I hope that our event will help such people make the first step,” said Usui.

The session of Start Line Tokyo is also open to people who want to be professional athletes, as Hitomi Onishi and Maya Nakanishi, who have competed in the Paralympics and other international track-and-field events, are members.

Yuzuki Fukuda, 13, a second-year junior high school student from Nagareyama, Chiba Prefecture, is one of the athlete wannabes in the next generation who has been inspired by the Paralympians.

Yuzuki ran 100 meters on nearly 10 occasions in practice during the August gathering. The teen was also aggressively involved in practicing his starts.

Only nine months following his birth, Yuzuki had to have his right leg amputated due to a congenital tibial deficiency. Yuzuki has been participating in Start Line Tokyo since he was an elementary school fourth-grader while belonging to his school’s track-and-field club at the same time.

His best record for a 100-meter race is 19.19 seconds. Yuzuki is looking to improve his time by one second every year before graduating from senior high school by practicing hard and dreaming of “running in the Paralympics in the future.”

In the two-hour event, participants practiced and worked up a sweat and left the venue with refreshed looks on their faces.

Usui said he has never missed the monthly gathering of Start Line Tokyo, as the event is helpful for prosthetists and orthotists as well, allowing them to listen to users’ opinions and improve their skills.

“The club offers a place where all participants can obtain something from each other,” Usui said.