Question man who suffered ‘most agonising death ever’ as he leaked fluid begged doctors

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Hisashi Ouchi was exposed to 17,000 millisieverts of radiation at Tokaimura nuclear plant in Japan in 1999, leaving him ‘burned from the inside out’ with his tissue slowly melting during 83 days of treatment

Hisashi Ouchi was a family man, remembered for his good looks and athleticism from his rugby-playing days.

However, he was tragically underprepared when tasked with handling highly potent uranium at his job in a Japanese nuclear power plant, leading to what has been described as “the most agonising death ever documented”.

Ouchi suffered internal burns, his skin peeled away and his tissue gradually melted, while he was kept alive for 83 horrific days against his wishes.

Despite pleading with doctors to end his suffering, he was repeatedly subjected to experimental surgeries and treatments even when there was no hope of recovery.

At the age of 35, Ouchi was a senior technician at the Tokaimura uranium processing plant in Japan, located about 110km northeast of Tokyo.

The plant had a history of negligence – a fire in 1997 exposed 37 staff members to high levels of radiation – before Ouchi met his gruesome end, reports the Mirror.

On 30 September 1999, Ouchi was exposed to 17,000 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation during his shift.

This is 850 times the safe annual dose for nuclear plant workers, 140 times the exposure level of those living in Chernobyl after the 1986 disaster, and the highest dose ever recorded in human history.

Once again, this exposure was due to negligence by the plant operators. During routine operations, Ouchi’s colleague Masato Shinohara and supervisor Yutaka Yokokawa poured seven times the appropriate amount of uranium into a processing tank.

This triggered an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction called a criticality accident, instantly releasing lethal radiation across the entire facility.

Ouchi, who had been leaning over the processing tank when the accident occurred whilst helping his colleague fill it, received the most severe exposure.

The nuclear reaction was so intense it created an eerie blue light that filled the room, setting off the plant’s safety alarms.

Straight away, Ouchi started being sick, struggling to breathe and found it hard to remain conscious or move without help.

He was rushed to the University of Tokyo hospital, where medics documented radiation burns across most of his body and a white blood cell count close to zero.

This meant Ouchi’s immune system had completely failed.

Six days after his hospital admission, a specialist examined images of Ouchi’s bone marrow cell chromosomes.

They had been obliterated, leaving behind only tiny black dots.

Yet doctors remained convinced they could save Ouchi’s life, even as his vital organs began failing and deteriorating.

They attempted cutting-edge treatments, including stem cell transplants and skin grafts.

Nevertheless, Ouchi’s health continued to deteriorate.

His skin began sloughing off and couldn’t heal itself, exposing the underlying tissue and muscle.

He required breathing assistance to survive.

The breakdown of his stomach wall meant he was producing up to three litres of diarrhoea daily and could only receive nutrition through a feeding tube.

The agony became so unbearable that, two months later, Ouchi’s heart gave out, yet medics chose to bring him back.

His wife allegedly wanted for him to hold on until at least January 1, 2000, so they could ring in the new millennium as one.

Yet onlookers claim Ouchi pleaded with physicians to end his suffering. “I can’t take it anymore,” he allegedly said, “I am not a guinea pig.”

On December 21, 1999, his body ultimately succumbed. Multiple organ failure was listed as the official cause of death.

Four months afterwards, in April 2000, his colleague Shinohara also died from multiple organ failure at 40.

Supervisor Yokokawa, who had been at his workstation during the criticality incident, pulled through.

A probe by Japanese authorities determined the disaster resulted from a lack of regulatory supervision, poor safety standards and insufficient worker training.

Six company executives from the facility’s operator were subsequently prosecuted for professional negligence and breaching nuclear safety regulations. In 2003, they received suspended jail sentences for their fatal oversight.