Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 2, 1 Pepeluali 1992 — Waianae diet hero Remembering Edward K. Aikaia [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Waianae diet hero Remembering Edward K. Aikaia

'Ai Pomo, EOla

(This eolumn is open to all OHA Trustees as a vehicle for them to express their By Terry Shintani, M.D. mana'o. Opinions expressed are those of the individual Trustees and do not necessarily represent the official position of the OHA Board of Trustees.)

The image of Edward Aikala standing at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center overlooking the oeean, holding his now much-too-big pants out to the side to show how mueh 150 lbs. of weight loss looked, will make

him immortal in the minds of the Hawaiian people and countless others. He was a hero that eame out of the Wai'anae Diet Program. He was a remarkable man. He influenced the lives of many people by his actions, by his words, and by his love for people. Ed, after leaving his mark on this world and our hearts passed on to the next world on Christmas day 1991 following a traffic accident in Makaha. I first met Ed four years ago when the WCCHC started a walking group out in Wai'anae. At that time, Ed could barely make it around the park even onee but he faithfully

showed up to walk with us regularly. It was at the walking group that I learned about all the health problems he had and all the medicines he needed to keep it all under control. Ed was over 400 lbs. then, and he had lost one toe because of his diabetes.

At that time, I also learned that Ed was a very spiritual person with a deep faith in God, and he was a very thoughtful and determined person. He was also discouraged because of his health problems. I told him not to give up, and that we were about to start a program that could help him. We had no funding for the project at that time and no one we asked would support the program. But because Ed was pure Hawaiian and so representative of all the problems that Hawaiians were dying from, we knew starting the program was really important.

Then Ed almost died in the hospital. Because I felt that he might not last mueh longer, I eonvinced the board of WCCHC to allow me to do the project without funding. So Ed was one of continued page 23

Edward K. Alkala

Ai Pono E Ola

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the main reasons the WDP was created.

On the Wai'anae Diet program Ed was very dedicated. He lost nearly 30 pounds in three weeks and lost a total of over 150 lbs. over the next year with his determination and commitment to his diet. What's even more impressive is that he kept all of it off over two years. He was so remarkable that he made presentations at the state cardiovascular disease conference and was judged by many to be the best speaker there. Last year, he was written up in the Honolulu Star Bulletin and a picture of him ran with the story. He was featured in a half hour TV program with Paula Akana on "Island Sunday," and perhaps most impressive was his coverage on nahonal TV on "CBS This Morning" on Dec. 4, 1991.

Through all this, his aloha for people grew even stronger. Ed encouraged people to be on the diet and because they could see his impressive results, he influenced people who would not be influenced in any other way. I remember on the second Wai'anae Diet Program he would drive to people's houses in Wai'anae to encourage them to stay with the program. And believe me, when someone Ed's size comes to your door (he was six-foot-five) to encourage you to

do something, you are more than encouraged. I wish I had a count of people who told me that they were impressed by him, by his picture in the paper, and even more-so by his personal example. In his last two years, he influenced a great many people in a very short period of time — probably more than most people do in a lifetime.

And while Ed turned out to be an excellent and eloquent speaker, he influenced people more by his example than by his words. In fact if there is one lesson that we ean leam from his example that we teach more by what we do than by what we say. Ed was proof that this worked. I hope we ean carry on in his mission to heal ourselves and by our example help others to heal themselves.

Ed will be missed by thousands. He will certainly be missed by his family. He will be missed by the Hawaiian people who saw him as a hero and a role model. He will be missed by the thousands who saw his picture in the paper and had the privilege of hearing him speak. He will be missed by the millions who saw him on national TV, and he will be missed by me and all of us involved with the Wai'anae Diet Program who saw him as our brother and saw his mana and his aloha in action helping people one by one. Ed made a difference because he cared and because he made a commitment to take control of his life.

As a tribute to him, I hope every person reading this is moved to go beyond reading about what he stood for and take action to be healthy and help others to do the same. Everyone ean do what Ed has done. All it takes is a little eommitment, a little faith, and a little action. By doing so, we ean make that memorable image of Ed mean so mueh more to ourselves and to the others with whom we share his gift by our example and with our Aloha.

(Dr. Terry Shintani, physician and nutritionist is the director of preventive medicine at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. A majoritp of the center's board and its 1 7,000 clients are of native Hawaiian ancestry.)