America dropped two nuclear bombs within a span of 3 days – August 6, 1945 on Hiroshima and August 9, 1945 on Nagasaki during World War II. Over 70,000 people were killed due to the bombing, the radiations and after-effects.
On March 24, 2009, the Japanese government officially recognized Tsutomu Yamaguchi as a double hibakusha(survivors of the atomic bombing). He was confirmed to be about 3 km (1.9 miles) from ground zero in Hiroshima on a business trip when the first bombing occurred. He was seriously burnt on the left side of his body and spent the night in Hiroshima. He arrived at his home city of Nagasaki on August 8, the day before the second bomb was dropped, and he was exposed to residual radiation while searching for his relatives. He was the first officially recognized survivor of both bombings.He died on January 4, 2010, at the age of 93, after a battle with stomach cancer.
Sumitery Taniguchi, 86 year old was 16, and was delivering posts on his bicycle, hardly over a mile from the epicenter on August 9, 1945 in Nagasaki, when the second bomb, called “Fat Man” was dropped which killed over 70,000 people. Stunned in the wake of the blast, he strolled aimlessly for three days, completely unaware of the severity of his injuries, and then he could feel something like a ragged cloth hanging from his back, shoulder and arm, which he later realized was his own skin, and his body is now a web of scars, that have cris-crossed his skin for 70 years.He is still incapable of fully straightening his left arm, while his wife rubs moisturizing cream onto his scars every morning to reduce the irritation on the skin. Three of his ribs have rotted away following the attack and still presses against his lungs, leaving dents and swellings in his gaunt chest.
His hardly healed back.
Sumitery Taniguchi with the photograph of his 16-year old self after the explosion
He can hardly move his left hand properly, which grew while he was recuperating and blocked the joint.
He concludes saying “I want this to end!”
By : Archa Dave
