I saw a newstory this morning that saddened and surprised me at the same time, for many reasons. You may have heard of Tsutomu Yamaguchi. If you haven’t, he was the only known person to have survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings at the end of World War II. Amazing, no doubt. He died today from stomach cancer. After the war, he spent much of his life devoted to telling his story and discussing his hope that someday such weapons (atomic bombs) would be abolished. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? An amazing, strong man and hearing his story, and those who survived (and didn’t), is truly heartwrenching.
But something else gave me pause me while reading this article. The man was 93 when he died. 93. Think about that for a moment. In America, we’re happy if we live into our 70s and can still get around. This man was 93, had stomach cancer, had survived two bombings and looked amazing. Obviously in America (and yes, some European Countries 😉 our eating habits and lifestyles are off kilter.
But it makes you wonder, if Tsutomu Yamaguchi hadn’t been exposed to two bombings, how long would he have lived? 100? 110? 120?
