A PARALYSED man in Japan has beaten the odds to live out his dream: to play the electric guitar.
52-year-old Yasuhiko Funago, a part-time assistant at the Shonan Institute of Technology in Fujisawa, helped colleagues over the course of a year to develop a guitar that could be played by contracting his facial muscles.
Funago suffers from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), which has left his entire body paralysed, except for his face.
However, with the help of his friends and co-workers from the Institute, including student Masahiko Yamada and professor Mizutani, Funago now has an instrument that responds to movement in his facial muscles and plays the according note.
Funago has three sensors attached to his face: one to the forehead, one to a cheek, and another to the jaw.
Before contracting ALS in 1999, and as far back as his student years, Funago had aimed to become a professional guitarist.
And now his dream has been realised, having played live with his band, consisting of his sister on piano and an old friend playing bass.
Funago’s ultimate dream is to be able to play Honky Tonk Woman by the Rolling Stones.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, August 16, 2010
