What happened to 'radioactive man' who suffered for 83 days before dying in most excruciating way ever recorded
Death comes for us all, and while most imagine peacefully passing away with their family and loved ones around them, not everyone is that lucky.
We've all seen the horrors of what radiation can do to the human body, and when it comes to radiation-related deaths, we can't think of many worse ways to go.
Instead of getting a quick and peaceful death, Hisashi Ouchi is remembered at the 'radioactive man', who was subjected to 83 days of agony.
Ouchi arrived at Japan's Tokaimura Nuclear Power Plant on 30 September 1999, assuming it would be another normal day alongside colleagues Masato Shinohara and Yutaka Yokokawa.
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Ouchi, Shinohara, and Yokokawa were assigned to mix uranyl nitrate in a large tank at the power plant, but there should've been alarm bells that the trio didn't have experience in handling this type of highly enriched uranium.
The group accidentally caused an uncontrolled nuclear fission chain reaction by adding too much uranyl nitrate - triggering a blue flash known as Cherenkov radiation.
All three were hit with deadly amounts of radiation and gamma rays, with Ouchi bearing the brunt via 17,000 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation. Shinohara absorbed 10,000 mSv, while Yokokawa was the furthest away but was still struck by 3,000 mSv.
Worringly, this wasn't Tokaimura's first incident, as a 2000 US Nuclear Regulatory Commission recorded 21 previous critical accidents between 1953 and 1997.
As Ouchi was by the metal tank holding a funnel, his 17,000 mSv dose is said to be one of the biggest exposures to radiation ever recorded. The international radiation safety limit says those working around radiation shouldn't exceed 20 mSv per year. Emergency responders at Chernobyl faced doses of between 20 and 500 mSv, while a dose of 5,000 mSv is considered fatal.
All three were whisked to the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Chiba, where it was determined their lymphatic blood count had dropped to zero. They were already experiencing, nausea, dehydration and diarrhoea before transferred to the University of Tokyo Hospital to try and save their lives three days later.
The 2002 book A Slow Death: 83 Days of Radiation Sickness a 2002 explains how Ouchi's face was red and swollen. Although he complained of pain in his ears and hands, he didn't have notable signs like burns or blisters.
Doctors thought they could save Ouchi's life, but instead, they only prolonged his suffering.
Beneath the skin a specialist looked at the chromosomes in Ouchi's bone marrow cells and only saw black dots - suggesting they'd broken apart and he wouldn't be able to generate new cells.
Ouchi suffered from a constant thirst, and when medical tape was removed form his chest, the skin came with it.
He eventually had to be fed intravenously, and although his heart stopped after two months in the hospital, doctors revived him.
After 83 days of horror, Ouchi finally pased away on December 21, 1999, due to multiple organ failures. Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi offered condolences to Ouchi's family and vowed to improve nuclear safety measures.
Even though there's some question about whether Ouchi can be classed at the world's most radioactive man, we wouldn't wish that title on anyone.