A man was exposed to a record-breaking amount of radiation after a work accident at a uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, Japan – he died after 83 days of agony
Chilling details have surfaced about a man who suffered an agonising death, ‘burning from the inside out’ for 83 days in one of the most excruciating fatalities ever documented.
Hisashi Ouchi, a 35 year old Japanese worker, was subjected to an unprecedented level of radiation while working at a uranium processing facility in Tokaimura, located 70 miles northeast of Tokyo. On September 30, 1999, he and two other colleagues were tasked with preparing uranium for nuclear fuel use. However, a deadly error occurred when his co-worker Masato Shinohara and supervisor Yutaka Yokokawa added 16kg of uranium into a processor, far exceeding the safe limit of 2.4kg.
Almost instantly, radiation alarms began blaring as the men fell ill. Ouchi was exposed to a shocking 17,000 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation, the highest amount ever recorded by a single individual.
Meanwhile, Shinohara absorbed 10,000 mSv, and Yokokawa, who was only a few yards away at a desk, was hit by an estimated 3,000 mSv. The safety limit is 20 mSv per year, with 5,000 mSv considered lethal.
The men were immediately rushed to a local hospital, reports the Mirror.
During a harrowing 83 days, Ouchi’s condition deteriorated as the radiation caused his skin to peel away and his eyelids to ‘fall off’ due to tissue necrosis. He developed severe respiratory issues, requiring a ventilator as fluid accumulated in his lungs.
His gut cells, crucial for absorbing food and medication, perished, leading to excruciating stomach pains and producing three litres of diarrhoea daily. Ouchi required up to 10 blood transfusions each day to manage internal bleeding.
As his skin loss accelerated, he leaked bodily fluids from his raw flesh; despite attempts at skin grafts and stem cell transplants, there was no improvement. Even potent painkillers couldn’t alleviate his suffering, and his eyes began to “cry blood”.
The agony became so unbearable that Ouchi pleaded with doctors to cease treatment. After his heart failed on the 59th day, he was resuscitated thrice.
However, on December 21, his 83rd day in the hospital, Ouchi succumbed to multiple organ failure. A few months later, in April 2000, Shinohara also passed away from the same cause at age 40.
Yokokawa, another victim, was hospitalised but eventually released after three months with minor radiation sickness.
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