Actor Kunio Murai and his wife, actress Mikiko Otonashi, appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on August 12th. They spoke about the myocardial infarction they suffered six years ago and their interactions with the female emergency doctor.
Murai was in the middle of a stage performance. After two performances, he returned home, took a shower in the bathroom, and as soon as he got into bed he started to feel "strange," so Otonashi called an ambulance. Otonashi recalls, "I was shocked. It was a myocardial infarction. My heart was on the verge of stopping." As soon as he got into the ambulance, his heart stopped. The paramedics told him, "Ma'am, let go of my hand," and just as they were wondering what was going to happen, they administered an electric shock to Murai. He regained consciousness, and when asked, "Do you know your name?" he replied, "Murai Kunio," so they were relieved, but just before they arrived at the hospital they administered another electric shock.
There was another performance tomorrow. Murai was refusing surgery, saying he couldn't afford to have a hole in his leg, and throwing a tantrum, but the female doctor "persuaded me with some really cheesy lines," Murai recalls. The doctor told him, "I also love the stage and watch it, but I hope you get better and give another performance that will delight everyone. I'll definitely come see it when you do." Murai replied, "As I listened, in the nature of an actor, I thought, 'It's going to cheesy if I write it in lines,'" but when he replied, "Yes, I understand," the doctor cut his T-shirt with scissors and immediately went into surgery.
Five years later, at one of Murai's concerts, the doctor unexpectedly arrived with a letter and a T-shirt. The letter expressed concern about whether Murai was feeling better, and explained that restrictions on medical workers' activities during the COVID-19 pandemic had been eased, and that she had seen information about Murai's performance, so she had come to visit him. While the doctor's name was included, neither her address nor phone number was. The T-shirt was from the same brand as the one that had been cut with scissors.
"I left (the letter and T-shirt) with him and then he disappeared, so I never got to meet him," said Otonashi. "I really, really want to meet him. I feel too bad about wearing the T-shirt, so I'm just leaving it there," said Murai, to which Otonashi agreed, "He said he wants to meet me." "I hope you'll contact me. I want to show you that I'm doing well," Murai said, addressing the camera.
