An Update from Japan – A Young Woman’s Personal Account of Tragedy and Loss of Life
An Update from Japan – A Young Woman’s Personal Account of Tragedy and Loss of Life
Written by Yumi Wednesday, 23 March 2011 07:49
As I write this I only have enough time to clean up and change clothes, my brother and I have been in Sendai. Back home in Tokyo it’s hard enough to get more water and blankets; this event is very horrifying.
We went there (to Sendai) to find his wife and children. Lucky we found them, but while there I also found so many bodies... even children. I also found great sadness.
I came across a small little girl, just five years of age. She was stuck under a car, a three door type, and I held her and tried to call help, but my brother said she will die.
That is now the way of life here. So much death, so many dead. But my brother always says, “We Japanese, we live on.” So we go back again after take a bath shower and such as that area water and communication is lost. My brother and I have been searching, just to find people and help.
If you have fear of dead people, I don’t. Dead or not they are my family, “we are Japanese.” It’s just sad when some you find are children.
My life now is to help my family and my family is Japan. I’ve found ten or so bodies so far. Now I return home after too many days with no change clothes and no bathing. My brother made us come back.
We leave again tonight; he loaded up a work van of water, blankets and all we can think of. I’m small. I am 4'10" American size, and weight of maybe 100 pounds. I'm like mouse, but very tough and very fiery.
I am very anxious of get back to Sendai, and to the people who died there, they deserve to be known. And no, I’m not a nasty girl, but a dead body was a person, and when most I find are children, they deserve to be known.
[Editor’s Note: Yumi requested that her and her brother’s names remain anonymous. The text of this story has been modified from the original transmission by The Rev. Rob Times to clean up the English, but the content is intact.
Readers are encouraged to make donations to Japanese relief efforts through legitimate charitable organizations such as Direct Relief International, Habitat for Humanity, Global Giving, Save the Children, and The American Red Cross. - Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra]