WIKIPEDIA: Sadako Sasaki (January 7, 1943 – October 25, 1955) was a Japanese girl who became a victim of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. She was two years of age when the bombs were dropped and was severely irradiated. She survived for another ten years, becoming one of the most widely known hibakusha—a Japanese term meaning "bomb-affected person". She is remembered through the story of the more than one thousand origami cranes she folded before her death. She died at the age of 12 on October 25, 1955 at the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital.
Sadako Sasaki was at home about 1.6 kilometres away from ground zero when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. She was blown out of the window and her mother ran out to find her, suspecting she may be dead, but instead finding her two-year-old daughter alive with no apparent injuries. While they were fleeing, Sadako and her mother were caught in black rain. Her grandmother ran back inside and died near the house, apparently trying to escape fires by hiding in a cistern.
Aftermath: Several years after the atomic explosion an increase in leukemia was observed, especially among young children. By the early 1950s, it was clear that the leukemia was caused by radiation exposure by the uranium in the bomb. Sadako grew up like her peers and became an important member of her class relay team, but in November 1954, Sadako developed swellings on her neck and behind her ears. In January 1955, purpura had formed on her legs. Subsequently, she was diagnosed with acute malignant lymph gland leukemia (her mother and others in Hiroshima referred to it as "atomic bomb disease"). She was hospitalized on February 21, 1955, and given no more than a year to live.
She was admitted as a patient to the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital for treatment and given blood transfusions on February 21, 1955. By the time she was admitted, her white blood cell count was six times higher than the average child's levels.
|
