https://www.amazon.fr/Slow-Death-Days-Radiation-Sickness/dp/1942993544 read this. It’s a book about the slow death of a Japanese guy who got exposed to high doses of radiation after an nuclear accident. The book follows his battle that lasted 83 days. There is a picture of him on his last days and you don’t want to see that. It’s horrifying. On a side note, radiation sickness is fascinating. What it can do to the body is terrifyingly interesting.
There’s a book that goes into this too, saying the family wanted to continue with treatment is only a fraction of the story when the DRs had their motivations too.
At one point he received a stem cell transplant from his sister and was actively improving before declining again. And there were three men who were exposed to radiation. Two died, one lived.
https://www.amazon.com/Slow-Death-Days-Radiation-Sickness/dp/1942993544
A book was written about the third guy called A Slow Death: 83 Days of Radiation Sickness. He was left alive for research purposes and until this we really didn't know that much about severe radiation sickness.
It's a thoroughly good book and I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested in the subject.
There is a great (yet horrific) book about this.
A Slow Death: 83 Days of Radiation Sickness
Highly recommend it.
You can read the book about the scenario. It’s an interesting read. [Amazon]
the book released by the NHK who recorded the whole thing. You can buy it on amazon and give it a read like I did.
I read the book, thx
https://www.amazon.de/Slow-Death-Days-Radiation-Sickness/dp/1942993544
A Slow Death: 83 Days of Radiation Sickness https://www.amazon.com/dp/1942993544/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_YWFHJPMCVS0C6X1DK7WK
Here is an excellent book on the subject. It was very engrossing. One I read the first few pages, it was ON!!
I am not. It was a Japanese man and it was not a scientist, just a random low level employee at the nuclear plant. The book was A Slow Death: 83 Days of Radiation Sickness.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1942993544?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Really interesting book on the subject
Here is the link on Amazon:
So, this is super NSFW and super long. This subject comes up fairly frequently on Reddit and in lists of gruesome deaths–the subject being, the Tokaimura Criticality Accident and the resulting death of Hisashi Ouchi, who survived for 83 days after receiving a more than fatal dose of ionizing radiation.
A book, “A Slow Death: 83 Days of Radiation Sickness”, was written about Ouchi’s incredibly gruesome deterioration and the efforts made by a medical team to save him. After reading it, I noticed that there was a LOT of misinformation out there about the incident, as well as just a lack of information in general, so … here I am. I was originally going to post on Reddit, but then I had no idea what subreddit this would go under and I was more familiar with tumblr in general, as weird a place as it was for this, so I started writing it and then posted it there. Then, Reddit changed so that you can post anything on your “profile” and not in a specific subreddit, so I’m crossposting it here.
What I will be doing: attempting to debunk a few myths and give some general information that doesn’t seem to have made it from the book to the internet.
What I won’t be doing: I’m not here to make a judgement call on anyone involved in Ouchi’s treatment. Do I personally believe it was cruel to keep him alive for 83 days in his condition? Yes. However, I don’t think anyone can definitively say what motivated it. Did the doctors genuinely have some kind of naive hope that they could save him with modern medicine, or did they just want to experiment with as many treatments as possible to see what would happen? Was his family unaware that nothing could be done, or just so deeply in denial they believed he could recover however bad his condition became? No one can really know. Maybe it’s a little of all of it.
Disclaimer: I am, obviously, not a doctor, an expert, or anything close to it. I just read the book, which is what I’ll be using as my main source throughout. I cannot find a PDF of it available online, but it’s easily purchased here.
Oh, and just to get this out of the way, we’ll start with the name: for some reason, his given name is sometimes reported as ‘Hiroshi’, even though it was definitely Hisashi. And yes, I know, ‘ouchi’. But it’s pronounced ‘oh-uchi’. Pretty sure to get the equivalent of the English word ‘ouchie’ in Japanese it’d be more like ‘aochi’.
So, to start with, I can’t find much information about Ouchi personally, save that he was a native of Ibaraki, had a younger sister, a wife, and a young son, smoked a pack a day, had played rugby in high school, and, by 1999, was employed as a technician at the JCO Tokaimura Plant, where he and his colleagues had recently been tasked with creating fuel for a fast reactor called Joyo. I can’t find any information about Ouchi’s education or training, though I have seen him and his colleagues referred to in various places as “unqualified” for the work. The accident itself took place in a conversion test building, which Ouchi had never worked in before (p.4).
I certainly have no deep understanding of what, exactly, went wrong with this batch of fuel to cause the criticality, so I’ll try to keep the summary very short. For deeper explanations, and a map of the Tokaimura facility, from what seem to be credible sources, see here and here.
The company JCO had, since 1993, been using a method of creating this fuel that went against regulation. It had established its own “in company” way of doing things called the “shadow guide”, but what Ouchi and his colleagues Masato Shinohara and Yutaka Yokokawa were doing ignored even that (p.32-33).
On September 30, 1999, Shinohara stood on a platform above a mixing tank pouring a uranyl nitrate solution into it from a steel bucket. It was the seventh bucket of the solution to be added. Yokokawa started out holding the funnel through which Shinohara poured the liquid, but turned it over to Ouchi and went to sit at a desk in an adjoining room.
When the criticality occurred, the three workers witnessed a blue flash of light (Cherenkov Radiation) and, realizing something horrible had happened, immediately fled. In a nearby changing room, Ouchi vomited and fainted (p.5). All three were taken first to the local hospital, then transferred to the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, located in Chiba, and finally, Ouchi was moved to the University of Tokyo Hospital.
However, by then, Ouchi had seemed to recover. For the next few days, he appeared so normal that physicians were shocked. His skin was not even visibly burned, with only his right arm, which had received the most radiation, appearing swollen and slightly red. Additionally, he was fully conscious and able to hold a conversation.
In reality, Ouchi was in “Walking Ghost Phase”. The radiation had, literally, shattered his chromosomes, meaning that his body no longer had any blueprint from which to reproduce cells. Essentially, he was dead from that instant. However, the cells his body had already made prior to irradiation would still be used to depletion, allowing him to appear normal for a while. Nevertheless, blood tests showed that his levels of white blood cells and lymphocytes were dangerously low (p.39). Without these, he had no immune system.
He was placed in a specially constructed ‘clean room’ in the ICU, where he was monitored very carefully for any signs of infection, including daily blood tests for early detection. As his sister was found to be a compatible donor, Ouchi became the world’s first recipient of peripheral blood stem cells which were harvested from her blood and transfused into his in the hope that they would allow him to create new blood cells, giving him a chance at survival. And they did, until they, too, began to be damaged (p.62-63).
Tragically, Ouchi seemed to have started out not being entirely aware of the reality and severity of his condition. He’s only reported to have made a few comments, but it’s revealing. A nurse recalls him saying, “I thought I’d be able to leave the hospital in a month or so, but it’s going to take longer, isn’t it?” (p.30) and “When you’re exposed to radiation like this, is there a risk of contracting leukemia or something?” (p.31)
His skin soon began to fall off, as the cells of the epidermis are some of the most rapidly reproducing in the body. Medical tape was unable to be used, and a special kind of gauze was required, as the normal type was too harsh.
Then his lungs began to fill with fluid, which brings us to myth 1: that Ouchi “begged for death”. He never explicitly voiced a wish to die, as he was rendered unable to talk by a breathing tube before he got the chance. It is, however, true that he ran out of patience with the doctors and lashed out, which was very surprising to them, as he had always been very “cheerful”. In the midst of a painful procedure in which a nurse was trying to get more air into his lungs, he told them to stop, that he wanted to just leave and go home, and that “I am not a guinea pig.” (p.51-52) Naturally, he also voiced many complaints of pain over the days. However, his last words were actually to his wife, telling her he loved her before the tube was inserted (p.54).
From there on, it was a slow, agonizing decline. Ouchi’s family, consisting of his parents, wife, and sister, had given approval for the medical team to “test[] every treatment method found in medical literature that seemed effective, even if it had a weak scientific basis (p.79).” The doctors were well aware at that point that Ouchi had been exposed to approximately 17 sieverts of radiation, which is more than twice the dose considered to have a one hundred percent mortality rate, 8 sieverts. See thishandy radiation dose chart.
Though it’s claimed in the book that the doctors did thoroughly inform the family of Ouchi’s status each day, it’s not clear whether it was ever pointed out to them the hopelessness of trying to save someone exposed to such a high dose. The family did visit the clean room frequently, and were at least aware of what he looked like as time passed, though he was covered head to toe in gauze.
Changing this gauze took three hours and ten people. The room had to be heated during the process, as he could not maintain his own body heat. A ^((trimmed due to comment size limit)^)
So, this is super 😅 NSFW 🔞 and super 😺 long 🍆. This subject 😙 comes 🍆💦👉 up ⬆ fairly 👒👉 frequently 📻 on 🔛 Reddit 💰 and in lists 📝 of gruesome deaths–the subject 😙 being, the Tokaimura Criticality 😮😧 Accident 🙈 and the resulting death ☠✝4⃣ of Hisashi Ouchi, who survived 💯 for 83 days 🌞 after 2️⃣ receiving 📲 a more than fatal 😱 dose 😩 of ionizing radiation ☢.
A book 📚, “A Slow 🐢 Death 💀: 83 Days 🌞 of Radiation ☢😷😨 Sickness”, was written 📝 about 💦 Ouchi’s incredibly 💩 gruesome deterioration 🙆 and the efforts 💪🏇🔨 made 👉 by a medical 💊 team 🐒 to save 📑 him 👨🏻. After 👀 reading ⁉📖 it, I 👁 noticed 🙀 that there was a LOT 🍑 of misinformation 📝 out there about 💦 the incident 💪🏽, as well 😦 as just a lack 📉 of information 📄✍ in general 💂, so … here I 👥 am. I 👥 was originally 👌 going 🏃 to post 📩📝💬 on 💰🔛🍆 Reddit 👽, but 🍑 then I 👁 had no ❌🚫 idea 🚫💭 what subreddit 💻 this would go 🏃 under ⬇ and I 👁 was more familiar 🤧 with tumblr 🖼 in general 🎖, as weird 🤪 a place 🏆 as it was for this, so I 👁 started 💢 writing 📝 it and then posted 📲 it there. Then, Reddit 👽 changed 🚼 so that you 👈 can post 📝 anything 😯 on 🔛 your 👉 “profile” and not in a specific 🐒 subreddit 👽, so I’m crossposting it here.
What I 👁 will be doing: attempting 🙋 to debunk a few myths 👻🔍 and give 👉 some general 🤷 information ℹ that doesn’t seem 🤔 to have made 👑 it from the book 📚 to the internet 💻.
What I 👥 won’t be doing: I’m not here to make 💘 a judgement 👨⚖️👩⚖️ call 🎙📞🍸 on 🔛 anyone 😼👌💥 involved 👨❤️👨 in Ouchi’s treatment 🍬🍭. Do I 👁 personally 👫👦👧 believe 🔯🙏🙌 it was cruel 👎 to keep 👌 him 👴 alive ✔ for 83 days 📆 in his 💦💯 condition 😩? Yes ✅. However 🖐, I 👁 don’t think 🤔 anyone 🙋 can definitively say 💖💬 what motivated 💪🏿 it. Did the doctors 😷 genuinely 👌 have some kind 🙁 of naive 👶 hope 🙏 that they could save 💾 him 👴 with modern 🖥 medicine 🏥, or did they just want 😋 to experiment 🔬 with as many 👬 treatments 😋 as possible 🤔 to see 👁👀 what would happen 💦🍆😍? Was his 💦 family 👪 unaware 👴🏽 that nothing ❌ could be done 🔨, or just so deeply 😱 in denial ❎ they believed 💭 he 👨 could recover 🚑 however 💯 bad 👎 his ‼💦 condition 👱♀️ became 🚡? No 🚫 one 😤 can really 😍 know 🤔. Maybe 🤔 it’s a little 👌👖 of all 💯 of it.
Disclaimer 🧐: I 👥 am, obviously 🙄, not a doctor 😷, an expert 🤓👨🏫🗣, or anything 😯 close 🚫 to it. I 👁 just read 📚📖 the book 📚📔📕, which is what I’ll be using 😏 as my main 🅱 source 📰 throughout 😎💦. I 👁 cannot 🚫 find 🔎 a PDF ❗ of it available 💢 online 💻🚮😡, but 🍑 it’s easily ‼✅❗ purchased 🤑 here.
Oh 🙀, and just to get 🉐 this out of the way ↕, we’ll start 🆕 with the name 📛: for some reason 🌟, his 💦 given 😂 name 📛🤔👤 is sometimes 🕒 reported 🧐 as ‘Hiroshi’, even 🌃 though 🤔 it was definitely 💯 Hisashi. And yes 👍, I 👁 know 🤔, ‘ouchi’. But 🍑 it’s pronounced 😡 ‘oh-uchi’. Pretty 👰 sure 👍 to get 🔟 the equivalent 🈁 of the English 🇬🇧 word 📝 ‘ouchie’ in Japanese 🇯🇵 it’d be more like 😄🔫 ‘aochi’.
So, to start 🆕 with, I 👁 can’t find 🔍 much 😩😂🙀 information ℹ🗺 about 💦 Ouchi personally 👫👭👬, save 📑 that he 👥 was a native 🐎 of Ibaraki, had a younger 👶 sister 👱♀️, a wife 👩☎, and a young 👶 son 👦, smoked 🚬 a pack 📦 a day 📆, had played 🎮 rugby in high 🔝⬆ school 🏫, and, by 1999 👸💆♀️💅, was employed 😭💙 as a technician 🔧❌ at the JCO Tokaimura Plant 🌱, where he 👨 and his 💦 colleagues 🎓💪🏾🎎 had recently 🕑 been tasked with creating 🔜 fuel ⛽ for a fast 💨 reactor ☢ called 📲 Joyo. I 👁 can’t find 👀 any information ℹ🎤🔁 about 💦 Ouchi’s education 🎓 or training 🚇🎅🏻🚂, though 🤔 I 👁 have seen 👀 him 🍆👨 and his ✌🏻👋🏻 colleagues 🎓 referred 💬 to in various 🤓🧐 places 🏆 as “unqualified” for the work 🏢. The accident 💩 itself took 👫 place 🏆 in a conversion 😎🤪 test 📝👌 building 🔨👷, which Ouchi had never 🚫 worked 🏢 in before 😂 (p.4).
I 👁 certainly 😎 have no 🙅 deep ⬇ understanding 🤔💡 of what, exactly 👌, went 🏃 wrong 👎 with this batch ⚡✨🌟 of fuel ⛽ to cause 🎗 the criticality 😮😧, so I’ll try 😈 to keep 👌 the summary 🙋🏻♀️💁🏻♀️🦵 very 👌 short 🚸. For deeper 😩💦 explanations 📢, and a map 🗺 of the Tokaimura facility 🏭, from what seem 🤔 to be credible 💳 sources 👍👌💯, see 👀 here and here.
The company 🏢 JCO had, since 👨 1993 ⏰, been using ✍🏻 a method 😂 of creating 🔜 this fuel 🚀 that went 💨 against 🚫 regulation 😂🤣😍. It had established 🔍 its own “in company” way 💫 of doing things 📴 called 📲 the “shadow guide”, but 🍑 what Ouchi and his 💦 colleagues 🎓 Masato Shinohara and Yutaka Yokokawa were doing ignored 😒 even 🌃 that (p.32-33).
On 🔛 September 📆 30 📅, 1999 💵➖☝, Shinohara stood 🚶 on 🔛 a platform 😱😮 above 🔝 a mixing 🍲 tank ⛽ pouring 😎 a uranyl nitrate solution 👍🅱 into it from a steel ✈ bucket 💧. It was the seventh ⏰ bucket 🍝 of the solution 👍🅱 to be added ➕. Yokokawa started 💢 out holding 😆 the funnel 📯 through which Shinohara poured 💀 the liquid 💦, but 🍑 turned 😍 it over 🔁 to Ouchi and went 🏃 to sit 💺 at a desk 👌 in an adjoining room 🏠.
When ⏰ the criticality 🙅🏻 occurred 😷, the three 🍗 workers 🏢 witnessed 👀🙈 a blue 🔵 flash 🎆⚡ of light 💡 (Cherenkov Radiation) and, realizing 💡🤔💭 something 😅 horrible 🚯 had happened 👉, immediately 😤 fled ✈🛬. In a nearby 🥤 changing 🔀 room 🏠, Ouchi vomited 🤮 and fainted 😱 (p.5). All 💯 three 🍗 were taken 💅 first 🥇 to the local 📰 hospital 🚑, then transferred 🔜 to the National 🇺🇸 Institute 🏢⚔ of Radiological Sciences 🔬, located 🤓🗺 in Chiba, and finally 🙏, Ouchi was moved 📦 to the University 🎓 of Tokyo Hospital 🚑.
However 💯, by then, Ouchi had seemed 🚹🚤 to recover 😘. For the next ⏭ few days 🌞, he 👨 appeared 💢 so normal 👩🦯 that physicians 🌡💉 were shocked 😳😨. His 💦 skin 👨 was not even 🌃 visibly 👁👀 burned 🔥, with only his 👋 right 👌 arm 💪, which had received 📲 the most radiation ☝🏻, appearing 📵 swollen 💩 and slightly ✋ red 🔴. Additionally 🏎, he 👨 was fully 🈵🍑 conscious 📷 and able 💪🏼🧠 to hold 🛂 a conversation 🗣👄.
In reality 💯, Ouchi was in “Walking Ghost 👻 Phase”. The radiation 🌞🌈 had, literally 👋🏻, shattered 🛡 his 💦 chromosomes, meaning 😏 that his 💦 body 😍 no 😣 longer 😩🍆 had any blueprint 🐾 from which to reproduce 🌼💦 cells 📱💻. Essentially 💯, he 👥 was dead 💀 from that instant 👀. However 🖐💯, the cells 📱 his 💦 body 💃 had already 👋 made 👑 prior 🔙 to irradiation would still 🙄😽 be used 🎶 to depletion, allowing ✅ him 👴 to appear 🔎 normal 😐 for a while. Nevertheless 👌, blood 💉🅰🆎 tests 📝 showed 🕺 that his 👋 levels 🎚🆙 of white ⚪ blood 💉 cells 🦠 and lymphocytes were dangerously ⚠ low ⬇ (p.39). Without ❌ these, he 👨 had no 😣 immune 😷 system 🗺.
He 👨🦁😨 was placed 🆗🎩💁 in a specially 😲 constructed 🔨 ‘clean room’ in the ICU 👉, where he 👥 was monitored very 😼👌💥 carefully ⚠ for any signs 💦 of infection 😩, including 💨 daily 🌞 blood 💉 tests 📝 for early 🕐 detection 🚨. As his 👋 sister 👱♀️ was found 🕵🔍 to be a compatible 👉👌 donor ❤, Ouchi became 🚡 the world’s first 🥇⛎ recipient 📲 of peripheral 👁↔🙄 blood 💉 stem 🎃 cells which were harvested 👅👀 from her 👸 blood 💉 and transfused into his 💦 in the hope 🙏🙌🇺 that they would allow 😖 him 👨 to create 💯 new 🆕👌🚼 blood 💉🅰🆎 cells 🦠, giving 👉 him 👨😓 a chance 🎲 at survival 🙏🏼😩😭. And they did, until they, too, began 🔘 to be damaged 😯😰 (p.62-63).
Tragically 😭😱, Ouchi seemed 💌 to have started 🆕 out not being entirely 🎬 aware 👀 of the reality 💯 and severity 👎 of his 💦👀 condition 😩. He’s only reported 🧐 to have made 👑 a few comments 💬, but 🍑 it’s revealing 😳. A nurse 🍼 recalls 👐 him 👴 saying 🗣😠, “I thought 💭 I’d be able 💪 to leave 🍃 the hospital 🏥 in a month 📆 or so, but 🍑 it’s going 🏃 to take 👊 longer 🍆😏, isn’t it?” (p.30) and “When you’re exposed 😩 to radiation ☢ like 😄 this, is there a risk 😐 of contracting ❎ leukemia or something?” (p.31)
His 💦🦊 skin 👨 soon 🔜 began 🔘 to fall 🍂🍁 off 📴, as the cells 🦠 of the epidermis are some of the most rapidly 🚸📆 reproducing in the body 💃. Medical 🏥 tape 🚧 was unable 🙅 to be used 🎶, and a special 👉😎👈 kind 🙁 of gauze was required 📋✅, as the normal 😐 type ⌨ was too harsh 😡.
Then his 💦 lungs 🤭 began 🔘 to fill 🍌💦 with fluid 💦, which brings 🚶 us 🇺🇸 to myth 🐉 1 🎄: that Ouchi “begged for death”. He 👨 never ❌ explicitly voiced a wish 🌈🙏🍀 to die 💀, as he 👥 was rendered 👾 unable 🙅 to talk 🗣 by a breathing 🌬 tube 🚇🆙 before 😂 he 👨 got 🍸 the chance 🎲. It is, however 🖐, true 💯 that he 👥 ran 🔒🏣♍ out of patience ⌛ with the doctors 👨⚕️ and lashed out, which was very ✅😲 surprising 🤯 to them, as he 👥😅 had always 🕔 been very ✅ “cheerful”. In the midst 🌌 of a painful 😭 procedure 🍑🍆 in which a nurse 🍼 was trying 😼👌💥 to get 🉐 more air 💨 into his 💦 lungs 😂🔫, he 👨 told 🗣 them to stop 🛑, that he 👨 wanted ⚠ to just leave 🍃 and go 🏃🏿💗 home 🏡, and that “I am not a guinea 🐭 pig.” (p.51-52) Naturally 🌱, he 👥 also ➕ voiced many 👬 complaints 🗣 of pain 😪 over 😳🙊💦 the days 📆. However 🖐💯, his 💦 last 😍 words 🔚 were actually 🤔 to his 👋 wife 👩, telling 🗣 her 👩 he 👥 loved 💕 her 👩 before ⬅ the tube 🍆 was inserted ⬇ (p.54).
From there on ✊💦, it was a slow ⏱🐢, agonizing 💢⚠ decline ❌. Ouchi’s family 👪, consisting of his 💦 parents 👪, wife 👩, and sister 👱♀️, had given 😂🙌 approval 👌💯 for the medical 🏥 team 🐒 to “test[] every ☝ treatment 🍭 method 🍽 found 🔍 in medical 💊 literature ✍ that seemed 💌 effective 💀, even 🆗🌃😒 if it had a weak 👶 scientific 👨🔬 basis 📅📆🗓 (p.79).” The doctors 👨⚕️ were well 😤 aware 🙌 at that point 🈯 that Ouchi had been exposed 😩 to approximately ⭕ 17 🥖🥛➖ sieverts of radiation ☢😷😨, which is more than twice ✌ the dose 😩 considered 🤔 to have a one 😤😬 hundr
https://www.amazon.com/Slow-Death-Days-Radiation-Sickness/dp/1942993544
Pretty gnarly book on him