Cleusa Uenaka's Turnaround at 60: Healing Through Education
Hospitalized with a critically low platelet count, Cleusa shifted her mindset, finished high school, and mentored at-risk youth before discovering running.
Before inspiring countless runners later in life, Cleusa Uenaka faced a severe health crisis at age 60. By returning to night school to complete her education, she found her own healing through mentoring dozens of at-risk youth.
Long before lacing up her running shoes at 70 and becoming an icon of active aging, Cleusa Uenaka went through one of the most challenging periods of her life. Around age 61, following a period of family losses after returning from Japan, she was admitted to the Hospital das Clínicas in São Paulo in critical condition: her platelet count had plummeted to 10,000 units.
Without a definitive diagnosis—though doctors strongly suspected leukemia because her body was rejecting red blood cells—Cleusa was treated with high doses of corticosteroids. Struggling with what she now recognizes as severe depression, her hospital stay offered little hope of recovery until an unexpected encounter with a medical intern changed everything.
Advice at the Hospital Bedside
Noticing the patient's deep distress, the young intern sat on her bed to listen to what Cleusa had endured in the preceding months. After hearing her story, he gave her a firm wake-up call: either she changed her mental focus, or she would never leave that bed. He then brought her books and magazines to help occupy her mind.
Her biological response was remarkably fast. Just three days after she began reading and shifted her perspective, her platelet count surged from 10,000 to 60,000. Her doctor granted a conditional discharge based on two requirements: weekly checkups for blood monitoring and a promise that she would pursue something that had brought her genuine joy in the past. The advice was direct: close the drawer on problems beyond her control and open the 'drawer of dreams.'
Returning to the Classroom as an Adult
To spare her family further worry, Cleusa kept the severity of her condition to herself and decided to pursue a long-deferred dream: resuming her education. More than three decades had passed since she had finished middle school. At age 60, she enrolled in an adult evening program at a local public high school, walking to and from classes every day.
As the oldest student in the school, Cleusa quickly noticed a group of young men who hung out in the courtyard, skipping class and struggling with drugs and alcohol. Despite warnings from teachers that the youths could become aggressive, she chose to approach them and start a conversation.
Giving Back, Mentorship, and Healing
Through simple, thoughtful gestures—gifting mechanical pencils to anyone who agreed to attend class, organizing prayer circles during breaks, and arranging career workshops through the company where she worked—Cleusa gained their trust. Over the course of the eighteen-month program, 28 young men left the courtyard, resumed their studies, and secured job placements through school partnerships.
This transformative experience also cemented Cleusa's physical recovery. By the end of the program, doctors gave her a clean bill of health, allowing her to discontinue corticosteroids and routine hospital visits. For Cleusa, healing came through serving others, unlocking the proactive mindset and sense of purpose that would eventually carry her inspiring message to running tracks around the world.