21. Shinji Passed away One Month after the A- Bombing

  My brother Shinji was a sixth grader at Misasa National Elementary School. On that morning he and his three friends were on the way to school and were passing by Aki Girls' High School in Yamate-cho. At that moment, he was hit by a flash and a blast and he was blown into the Yamate River. His ear was torn off and one of his eyes was blinded, turning white. Despite that, he managed to come back home and pulled out his mother and his brother who had been buried under the completely destroyed house. Shinji's elder sister, my younger sister, went to Municipal Girls' High School and she apparently died without anyone knowing where she was.

   Shinji was burned all over his body by heat rays. His homeroom teacher's brother, Mr. Imai was running a clinic in Midorii-cho, Asa-gun. Shinji had treatments there and I took care of him all that time. In the end he had a big hole on the cheek and his teeth were seen from outside. He suffered and suffered, and died on September 17th. He received tender care there and Dr. Imai was kind enough to make a coffin for Shinji. However, Dr.Imai also died of radiation sickness 15 or 16 years ago.

  If I had had a relative in the country, my son could have been evacuated. How bitter I feel. I survived the A-bombing because I was working at the office of Mitsubishi in Furue. My father also died later. I lost my two brothers and my sister. If they were alive, they would be good parents. The thought makes me sad and I do not know how to express my grief.

Written by Fusako Doi (Higashikanon, Hiroshima)

Death in the Atomic boming :
Shinji Yamagata (a sixth Grader in Misasa National Elementary School)

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