A 'radioactive man' suffered one of the most painful deaths ever recorded in history.
On September 30, 1999, Japanese nuclear plant worker Hisashi Ouchi was left in critical condition after a terrifying accident.
On the fateful day, Hisashi and his colleagues Masato Shinohara and Yutaka Yokokawa were assigned a task that required them to mix uranyl nitrate in a huge metal tank at the facility, according to Daily Mail.
The men, who were said to have little experience in handling the harmful substance, put too much of it in, which led to an uncontrolled nuclear fission chain reaction, and the release of radiation and gamma rays into the atmosphere.
The two workers absorbed 10,000 and 3,000 mSv as they were further away, while Ouchi received the brunt of the exposure - 17,000 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation - as he was standing closest to the tank.
Little did he know that that was the first of his 83 days of unimaginable suffering.
Immediately after the horrific event, the worker experienced loss of consciousness, severe radiation burns, nausea, and vomiting.
Ouchi was transported to the University of Tokyo Hospital, where doctors discovered that he had almost no white blood cells and urgently needed extensive skin grafts and numerous blood transfusions.
Despite the treatment efforts, his condition continued to decline. It was reported that his skin began to molt and his liver and intestines, showed signs of extreme damage, per WhaTech. In addition to this, his immune system was virtually non-functional.
Ouchi's 83-day ordeal was hell. The radiation burns left him "crying blood," as he pleaded with doctors to stop treating him. "I can't take it anymore! I am not a guinea pig," he reportedly told them.
But at his family’s insistence, the doctors continued. In fact, on his 59th day in care, the victim suffered three heart attacks but he was resuscitated as his loved ones agreed that he should be revived.
On December 21, 1999, Ouchi finally passed away at age 35 after several organs failed. His colleague Shinohara, aged 40, died in 2000 from multiple organ failure as well.
Meanwhile, Yokokawa survived and was released after three months of treatment after suffering minor radiation sickness. However, he faced criminal charges of negligence in October 2000, along with five other JCO officials, who all pled guilty in April 2001.
JCO ended up reimbursing $121 million to settle 6,875 compensation claims from people and businesses who had been affected by or been exposed to radiation. The company also lost its credentials for running nuclear plants.
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