In this deeply moving and thought-provoking episode of the Legends Podcast, host Sarah Furuya sits down with the miraculous Matthew Dons, a figure who has not only transformed his own life but has profoundly impacted the world around him over the past eight years. This is the final episode of Season 8, themed Skin in the Game, and it brings a powerful close with insights on life, death, and the miraculous experiences that shape our journeys.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Matthew’s Miracle: The extraordinary story of Matthew Dons and the miraculous transformations in his life, particularly in the face of death.
• Facing Mortality: How Matthew's confrontation with his mortality has reshaped his view of the world, life, and the choices he makes every day.
• The Power of Presence: What it means to be truly present in life when you are living with a terminal diagnosis, and how that presence transforms relationships, ambitions, and daily experiences.
• Lessons on Death and Dying: Matthew shares the insights he has gained from walking a path many fear, offering listeners a unique perspective on accepting death as a natural part of life.
• Inspiration for Others: This episode is not only about Matthew's experience but also serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration for others who may be grappling with their own challenges.

If you enjoyed this episode and it inspired you in some way, we’d love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway. Head over to Apple Podcasts to leave a review and we’d love it if you would come and say hi over on @sarahfuruyacreative on Instagram.

About Matthew

Matthew Dons is a marketing consultant and business coach from the UK. He has been living in Tokyo since 2007.

Matthew came to Japan to study traditional Japanese martial arts. His other hobbies include baking, studying the history of technology and watching 80’s films.

In July 2016 Matthew was suddenly diagnosed with terminal cancer, also known as stage 4 cancer. The cancer had spread a lot so his life expectancy, with treatment, was just 7-9 months. Although crowdfunding and cutting-edge immunotherapy have helped him live almost 8 years so far, he’s still in a life-and-death fight every day.

Although Matthew is very cynical, he was genuinely shocked to discover there’s no serious effort in any country to stop people dying of cancer. This is despite the fact cancer kills around 10 million people every year, and it destroys the lives of many more people. It’s a brutal disease, with equally-brutal treatments. Experiencing this firsthand motivated him to set up the non-profit Make Cancer History.

Make Cancer History connects patients, oncologists and researchers to share cancer knowledge and save lives.

Connect with Matthew & Donate

https://www.matthewdons.org

https://www.makecancerhistory.jp/

https://www.makecancerhistory.jp/donate/

Connect with Sarah

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sarah-furuya-creative

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahfuruyacreative/

Facebook:

Release from daily bullshit is fertile ground for creative freedom, frank talk and advocacy. Also good men, creative forces and the usual rabbit hole of musings with Sarah.

In this episode:

• Sarah muses on her final guest of the season’s daily dialogues with death. They are in a unique position to be absolutely unfiltered because they are close to mortality in every single day and have been for 8 years.
• This takes Sarah on a trip into inquiries around good men, masks, latest obsessions, interests and thoughts about life.
• and more....

If you enjoyed this episode and it inspired you in some way, we’d love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway. Head over to Apple Podcasts to leave a review and we’d love it if you would come and say hi over on @sarahfuruyacreative on Instagram.

Connect with Sarah

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sarah-furuya-creative

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahfuruyacreative/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahfuruyacreative

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXsuS_yVT9fMHjhAylVy8-w

This week I sat down with the remarkable Sarajean Rossitto, a force of positive change in the nonprofit sector. With a wealth of experience and a passion for empowering communities, Sarajean shares her journey, insights, and the pivotal moments that have shaped her career.

Sarajean and I could have talked for hours. She truly is a legend of influence, impact and social change. Currently based out of Tokyo, Japan, hailing from New York State in America, with her ancestry in Italy we talk about the influence of her Italian side (which relates to my Liverpool side) on her way of being in the world, in this conversation and her commitment to hope for the USA.

Sarajean and I met in 2008 at a Career Strategy Seminar run by FEW, For Empowering Women in Japan. It was like a baptism of fire meeting her and all the other incredible women in my midst at that point and it was a pivotal event in my life. Little did we know that just 4 years later we would be the President and Vice President of the same organisation and forge a fiery and loving relationship that would endure to this day.

Not only that but we, along with another good friend whom we met at the same 2008 career seminar, would be the Ladies of honour for previous Legends, Angela Ortiz Pettas and her husband Nicholas Pettas. Seriously, you couldn’t script this stuff - all three of us met Angela through different channels too. It’s just the Ordinary Magic.

Sarajean is a courageous and committed activist, who puts her passion for social impact ahead of her own image. She is at the forefront of what needs to happen next and does not necessarily have lofty ideas about world-changing activity, but focuses on what she CAN do in her own sphere of influence and networks.

She holds lecturing positions at Temple University Japan and Sophia University largely focussed on social change initiatives. She is continually proposing new courses, based on the latest information available.

NPOs, News outlets and social impact groups all seek out Sarajean’s counsel and consultation to better serve their clients, and communities or in order to communicate correctly. I wonder how she remains hopeful, something that I sometimes have difficulty with and she explains this in the show.

I was interested in this based on her work with American politics. She does not underestimate the influence that the 38 million Americans living outside of the 50 states can have in elections and as such she works to influence and impact those voters. Much like Terri McMillan, legend of Humans who also got involved in canvassing.

Sarajean has a vim and verve that is hard to resist. She is terrific fun, a trained chef, skilled orator, actor and director and loves fiercely. Her optimism has nothing to do with toxic positivity but a firm foundation of hope and belief that small differences can have an impact that will help humans.

“I am not necessarily a happy person, but I am an excited person”

SJR

I will definitely invite Sarajean back for round 2 because we didn’t touch upon her art, the plays she has directed and appeared in and her support of and promotion of local drama groups.

Here are some gems from our conversation:

• Having skin in the game means investing myself in whatever I believe in, in a way, that I can feel proud