SENDAI--A small ray of hope emerged amid the worst natural disaster to hit postwar Japan.
SENDAI--A small ray of hope emerged amid the worst natural disaster to hit postwar Japan.
But it didn't come easy.
Kei Takahashi, 28, of Sendai's Miyagino Ward, gave birth on Monday to a healthy 3,030-gram baby girl.
The Great East Japan Earthquake struck March 11, five days before Takahashi was scheduled to undergo a Caesarean section.
She grabbed her 1-year-old daughter and ran to the roof of a building, which was flooded by the subsequent tsunami.
As fire, smoke and destruction spread through the city, Takahashi lost all hope, thinking that everything was lost.
On March 12, she found shelter at an evacuation center, where people immediately gave her food.
"You have to eat a lot since you are about to give birth," one of the evacuees told her.
Takahashi was unable to contact the obstetrical and gynecological clinic where she had planned to give birth. She ended up in Sendai's Tohoku Kosai Hospital, where her baby was born.
"I was able to do my best because of the baby," Takahashi said.
Having lost her home in the disaster, Takahashi is concerned about what the future holds for her newborn daughter.
"I want to overcome each and every hurdle with my family," she said. "I want my daughter to grow up to be a strong child who does not lose to difficult circumstances."