Nagano Parciero’s Kazuya Sunamori, whose 2-year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia and “almost gave up on soccer,” talks about his “gratitude to the soccer world.

On Saturday, May 13, ’23, the “Shinshu Derby”, the most exciting game for J-League fans in Nagano, Nagano Parciero vs. Matsumoto Yamaga FC, was scheduled to kick off at 18:00 at Nagano U Stadium, Parciero’s home ground, as the 10th J3 match.

Kazuya Sunamori (33), in his first year with Parciero, was also in the squad and was looking forward to the match against Yamaga.

One of the reasons I moved to Nagano was because I wanted to play in the derby, and I’d heard that no other J3 club could hold 10,000 spectators.”

On the other hand, he was worried about his two-year-old daughter, who had been ill for several weeks.

She had been suffering from a fever since the beginning of April. At first, we went to a pediatrician near our house and received antipyretics. However, after the fever went down, it would come back a week later, or the fever would stay over 40 degrees Celsius for about four days, and it seemed strange for about a month.

Worried, the couple started searching the Internet and looked up people with the same symptoms at ……. We felt that perhaps it was leukemia, and we didn’t like it. But after visiting several hospitals, we could not find the cause.”

Prior to joining Parciero, Sunamori played for Kagoshima United FC for four seasons. He called a pediatrician who used to see his children there.

He said, “I was still not satisfied with the situation, so I asked him for advice. He said, ‘You should get a letter of introduction and go to a big hospital for an examination. I should go there before the Golden Week holidays,’ and I went to Nagano Red Cross Hospital on short notice. I went to Nagano Red Cross Hospital on short notice.

It was a Saturday, so my wife took our daughter there because the hospital would be closed the next day if we did not go there in the morning. I was waiting at home for the test results, but they didn’t come in, so we moved on when it was time to head to the club. So I was about to have a pre-game snack with my team members when I got a call from my wife. ‘The doctor at JRC told me I needed a blood transfusion right away. His hemoglobin and platelet counts are extremely low. He explained that the values were abnormal. At that time, I was not told the exact name of the disease, but I was told that in light of the values, leukemia was strongly suspected…”

My wife was sobbing.

I was in the lineup, but the team bus was about to leave, so I didn’t eat a snack, talked to the reinforcement team, and rushed to the hospital instead of attending the game. I drove to the hospital in my own car. My mind was blank and I wondered what was going to happen to me. …… I drove for about 20 minutes wondering if I had an incurable disease or if it was at a level where there was no cure. I was more white than sad.”

When he arrived at the hospital, his wife was holding their groggy daughter in a room in the emergency room.

At that point, we still didn’t have an accurate diagnosis,” he said. From there, she was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Matsumoto. My wife was crying, but I remember telling her, ‘We have to be strong.

My parents had also come to Nagano to watch the Matsumoto-Samaga match, so I followed the ambulance to the hospital in Matsumoto with my parents and son. When we arrived at the hospital, neither my son nor my parents could enter the ward because of the corona. I was flabbergasted by the hospitalization procedures and preparations. Detailed tests were not available until the end of the week, so I spent many anxious days wondering what kind of disease I had and whether it could be cured until I received a proper diagnosis. I was waiting for the test results while giving blood transfusions.

My wife, almost crushed with anxiety, stays with our daughter.

‘I came home with my son. Until my wife and daughter came home, my son and I would live together, but it was totally different from my daily life. My son is my son, and he’s like, ‘Why aren’t my mom and sister here?’ I had to be calm. I had to keep my cool, but I was worried inside…. The next day, I started driving an hour and a half each way on the highway to the hospital while taking my middle son to and from kindergarten. I cried as I drove back and forth between the hospital and my home, alone at the wheel.

Sunamori used to leave everything to his wife, including cooking, cleaning, and laundry, but now that he lives alone with his son, he inevitably has to do it himself.

I had hardly ever been in the kitchen, but I had no choice but to do it,” he said. I couldn’t cook elaborate dishes, so I just served rice, fish, vegetables, and other ingredients as they were. Well, it was like an athlete’s meal. I made steamed chicken and other dishes, but my repertoire was so limited that I couldn’t deep-fry anything. My son would say, ‘This again? I was making it while my son was saying, ‘This again?

At this time, Sunamori’s heart was filled with emotion, for if an adult shows emotional turmoil, it will affect the child. He was trying his best to live his life as usual.

Whenever my son asked me about my wife and daughter, I told him that they would be home soon. But at night, he would ask, ‘Is it just the two of you again today? She kept repeating, ‘You haven’t come home yet. Eventually, he began to develop fever, urticaria, and other physical problems.

I knew this was not good, so I asked the club to suspend my activities. My wife is taking care of my daughter. What I can do now is to create a stress-free environment for my son. I tried to strike a good balance whenever possible.

On June 16, 2011, Parseiro announced Sunamori’s suspension.

On the day he left the Shinshu Derby, the club said, ‘Forget about soccer, let’s get your affairs in order. The day we left the Shinshu Derby, the club said, ‘Forget about soccer, let’s get our affairs in order. If your parents live in Chiba, Chiba would be better. Go to the place where you can trust the most. The director at the time, Yuki Stalf, even personally checked hospitals for me. He was a director who cared about his family and was very understanding. That’s why I was able to make the decision.

A few days after the daughter was admitted to the hospital, the results of the diagnosis were announced.

The doctor showed me a piece of paper in another room. The doctor showed me the paper in the other room, and I felt like I was confronted with reality. It is the adults who have to understand the situation, what kind of treatment is being given and in what span of time, and at what timing the painful treatment is being given,” he said.

It was hard for me to see the pain on my daughter’s face. But she will recover! I told myself and my family to keep looking forward, no matter how hard it was. I told my wife that I was trying to think positively. Although I said that, I could have had a mental breakdown. There were times when I was alone and I couldn’t stop crying. However, it was my daughter who was suffering more than I was, and seeing that, I knew that I should never show my depression or distress in front of my own child. It was my daughter who was doing the best she could, and it was my son who was suddenly deprived of his daily life. I always thought that I would behave in a way that would make my family feel normal, even if it meant giving up my own work.

Eventually, treatment began.

It wasn’t something that said, ‘If you do this treatment, you’ll be cured. We would try and see the results, and then think about the next step. We would go down a path that we couldn’t see, and then we would move on to the next one that opened up. It was like I was moving forward without being able to see the road ahead.

About two months after I was hospitalized, I developed pancreatitis as a side effect of anticancer drugs. It was just the day I stayed at the hospital with him. It was too painful to see my daughter unable to sleep, vomiting all night long. She was eating and drinking constantly, so I felt sorry for her. Also, her hair was falling out rapidly due to the side effects of the anti-cancer drugs. When I was next to her bed, her hair really started falling out, and I kept picking it up with a korokoro (*adhesive carpet cleaner). ……

After moving from JEF United Chiba Junior Youth, Youth, Juntendo University, Honda Giken, Kamatamare Sanuki, Aslclaro Numazu, Kagoshima United FC, and Nagano Parciero, there was a movement in the soccer world to support Sunamori. His friends suggested that we start a fundraising campaign right away.

We were very grateful for the offer. But there was also a conflict. There are children in the same ward who are going through tough treatment. I am a soccer player, so maybe we could raise money. But there are families who are still suffering, and there may be people who envy us. I worried about my daughter.

Soon after, the J-League Players Association decided to set up an account, and it seems that donations from 35 teams were collected. I was happy, but at the same time I wondered what the proper way to feel about it was. At that time, one of my seniors, Kenji Baba, said to me, ‘We are living in a world of competition, and we may be fired next year. Unlike ordinary companies, we have no benefits and no guarantees. This time, we joined hands in the soccer circle, so why don’t you accept it? That made me feel that I could take advantage of the warmth of the people around me.

In late January ’24, Sunamori’s beloved daughter was discharged from the hospital and switched to a hospital visit.’ In April ’24, she entered the kindergarten’s youngest class. Sunamori also returned to the team last November.

To be honest, when my daughter was just hospitalized, I thought she was no longer in a position to play soccer,” Sunamori said. It is hard to go to the hospital and raise money for treatment. It takes several years before she is completely cured, so I have never lost my anxiety. In such a situation, the circle of support extended by the soccer world gave me not only financial help but also a bond that transcended teams – the opposing team put up a banner, and I received courage and strength, or something like that. I received such courage and strength. I am truly blessed to be a part of this circle. I learned that this is what soccer is all about.

I always felt that we were in a position to deliver excitement to the supporters, but when we were in a difficult situation, the cheers and SNS messages made me realize how much I could be encouraged off the pitch.

Sunamori is now contemplating how he should give back the benefits he has received from those around him while he is engaged in the daily battle as a professional soccer player.

I know what it is like to be on the other side of an illness, so I think about what I can do to help and what the best path is,” he said. So, first of all, I am trying to raise awareness about blood donation and bone marrow donation.

Kazuya Sunamori, left back of Parceiro, number 48. He lives in Nagano as a professional soccer player, husband, and father of two children, and his three-year-old daughter will one day realize how much she is loved by those around her and how she has overcome her illness.