When I look at those who have made a difference in other people’s lives, it’s usually ordinary people who have stepped up and given selflessly. Here are two of their stories this week.
Renee Chung: Early bone marrow donor
In the past 30 years, doctors have discovered that some cancers can be cured with the transplantation of bone marrow from a healthy donor. One of the earliest donors in Hawaii was Renee (Adaniya) Chung in 1992.
Chung said she was working for Aston Hotels in the late 1980s. “A co-worker, Pat Tamashiro, needed a bone marrow transplant, and we all signed up, really not knowing what was involved. They took two tubes of my blood.” It was quick.
Chung wasn’t a match for her co-worker, but a year later she found out she was a match for another patient.
“They told me it was a simple procedure,” said Chung, who was 24 at the time. She would be anesthetized and wouldn’t feel a thing. A needle would be inserted into her hip bone to extract the bone marrow, which is a little thicker than blood. There would be no cutting or stitches.
“I would be sore for a couple of days. If that could save a life, it was an easy decision for me,” she said.
Chung didn’t know who would receive her bone marrow. If the recipient wanted to make contact, they could — 12 months later.
After a year Chung heard from the recipient, Butch Lane, who lives outside of Nashville, Tenn.
He’s Caucasian and she’s Asian, which makes this match interesting and unusual. “We weren’t perfect matches,” Chung said, “but somehow it worked!
“I met him and his family. He’s still alive and has a wife and two sons. I hadn’t thought beyond the recipient and was not fully aware of how many it touched — his family and his whole community.
“The sons told me they are very grateful that I donated and that their dad got to see them grow up, graduate from high school, marry and have kids of their own.”
Three years later Chung left Aston Hotels to work for the Hawaii Bone Marrow Registry, seeing it as a cause that made a difference. She’s been there 25 years and loves her job.
Chung is the program manager. She and her small staff recruit and facilitate donor collections. They coordinate with the National Bone Marrow Registry and Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, where the bone marrow and stem cell collections and transplants are now performed.
The local Bone Marrow Registry was founded at St. Francis Medical Center in 1989 and is still located there. “When the hospital closed, we needed a partner and Kapiolani stepped forward,” Chung said.
“About 20 to 25 donors get matched annually in Hawaii. Our diversity means we can help people all over the world. They currently have about 75,000 donors from Hawaii in the database.”
Being a donor is easier today. All it takes is a cheek swab to register. Currently, 95% of the donations are done through blood stem cells taken from an arm.
“The procedure is much less invasive than the one I did. It is a small sacrifice, and your donation may be the only hope for a patient’s cure,” Chung said.
“For me, this was the greatest honor and blessing to be able to help save the life of another person. It didn’t just save a life, it enriched mine and gave me a sense purpose for which I will be forever grateful.”
She encourages islanders ages 18 to 44 to register at bethematch.org or text CURE131 to 61474.
Dean Kaneshiro: Pau Hana Pumpers
In February 1996 my wife and I signed up for a beginning weight training class through the University of Hawaii School of Continuing Education. It was 12 sessions over six weeks, and 16 of us signed up.
I thought I would learn to use the equipment, then could join a gym, knowing what to do. Before that I usually quit a gym after a month because I felt I didn’t fit in. I had no idea I’d be there 23 years.
The class was led by Dean Kaneshiro, a certified personal trainer at CHART (Comprehensive Health and Rehabilitation Therapy) clinic at the Dillingham Plaza in Kalihi. CHART mostly helps individuals with on-the-job injuries. Kaneshiro was a full-time registrar at Jarrett Middle School.
Kaneshiro created individual workout routines for us, trained us in how to do them properly and was there to spot us on the bench press or discuss our regimens.
As we neared the end, I asked whether there was a way we could continue to use their facility. Kaneshiro talked with Frieda Takaki, CHART president, who gave us a green light. Kaneshiro continued teaching weight training for seniors, and over 370 participants attended 22 classes.
Over 100 of us stayed on, working out two to three times a week. We called ourselves the Pau Hana Pumpers. Most of us were over 50 and a few over 90.
The Pau Hana Pumpers were different from other gyms. It became an ohana. We all knew one another. We had parties several times a year, including a big one at Christmas. It was a social function, not just a gym.
We watched Kaneshiro’s children, Ashley and Kellen, grow to be adults with children of their own. His wife, Liane, gave so much to our group.
Our motto was “Older- Wiser-Stronger.” Most seniors are older, wiser but weaker. The Pau Hana Pumpers helped us maintain and increase our strength and fitness.
Kaneshiro’s background in teaching helped create a more rounded, holistic approach to our well-being. It was about our mental health, cognitive capacity, motivation and humor, not just weightlifting.
Kaneshiro, a master weightlifter, competed and set several state and world records, and over time a few of our group traveled with him to mainland competitions. Some even set records in their age, gender and weight classes.
The Pau Hana Pumpers were instrumental in my writing my first book. I had given my graduate marketing students at Hawaii Pacific University the assignment to meet and interview business owners.
At one point I typed up a six-page document of the more interesting things my students had learned to pass out to the next class. I had a few extra copies and gave them out to my fellow pumpers.
They were so enthusiastic about the stories — some actually grabbed copies out of my hand or asked whether they could make copies for their friends — that I came to realize it should be published.
I used the group to bounce ideas off of — the book’s name, subtitle, price, which photos to put on the cover and even which quizzes to put in it.
If it weren’t for the Pau Hana Pumpers, my five “The Companies We Keep” books and Rearview Mirror column might have never been.
Theo Fujiyoshi said Pau Hana Pumpers was life-changing for her and her husband, Mel. “The classes became part of our life routine, and exercising was enjoyable and fun. Our Monday-Wednesday- Friday group became our social friends.”
Wanda Nakamura said Kaneshiro put his “heart and soul into Pau Hana Pumpers by imparting (his) wisdom and knowledge, and by always being there with unwavering support. What (he gave) us over the last 23 year is truly priceless.”
CHART moved in January of this year to a new facility near Ala Moana, and Kaneshiro, now a grandfather, decided to retire. This was before COVID-19 closed down the gyms. After 23 years the Pau Hana Pumpers were pau.
Dean Kaneshiro and Renee Chung are just two of thousands of islanders who are making a difference in our lives. Can you think of others?
Have a question or suggestion? Contact Bob Sigall, author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books, at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
