ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture--Jin Abe, the 16-year-old boy rescued with his 80-year-old grandmother nine days after her flattened home was swept away by a tsunami, put on a brave face as he faced reporters in his hospital bed Monday, March 21.
ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture--Jin Abe, the 16-year-old boy rescued with his 80-year-old grandmother nine days after her flattened home was swept away by a tsunami, put on a brave face as he faced reporters in his hospital bed Monday, March 21.
Clearly fatigued, and speaking through a face mask, Jin answered questions from a limited number of reporters from print media and television.
"I'm doing alright," Jin said when asked how he was feeling. His father Akira, 57, was seated next to his bed.
Jin and his grandmother Sumi were rescued on Sunday from the second-floor portion of Sumi's house which had been crushed and washed away by the March 11 tsunami. After climbing onto the roof, Jin attracted the attention of rescuers and directed them to his grandmother who was still trapped inside.
The space where the two were trapped was "about (the size of) one room. But we could not stand up and walk around."
With his grandmother unable to move, Jin said he crawled through the wreckage to retrieve food from a refrigerator and blankets from an adjacent room.
He said he slept on a table while Sumi slept on a toppled closet.
"We drank water and other stuff. And snacks, we ate snacks," Jin said.
He said that the only light in the cramped space came through a crack in the destroyed structure.
During the nine-day ordeal, Jin said he heard voices outside on several occasions, but was unable to get help as he could not find a way out.
Asked what he remembered from the tsunami, Jin said, "I'm not sure since I was inside the house."
He said that he directed rescuers to his trapped grandmother before accepting food and a hand warmer from a rescue worker.
Obviously happy with his son's actions, Akira said, "Grandma was saved thanks to Jin. He may be shy, but I always thought he was capable of doing something, and he proved me right. I'm proud of him."
According to doctor Michio Kobayashi, the two ate a breakfast of rice porridge, a boiled egg and pickles.
Sumi smiled, saying the breakfast was delicious.
Doctors said both patients need some more rest, but blood tests showed neither was suffering from malnutrition or other health complications.
While Jin has swelling in his left leg and cannot stand, Sumi was getting around in a wheelchair by Monday and was expected to be discharged in a few days.
Kobayashi said the hospital was ready to provide psychiatric care in case the two display symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The nearly miraculous rescue and recovery has become a source of encouragement for many in Ishinomaki.
Four police officers involved in the rescue told a news conference Monday that they "gained confidence from being able to save a young man's life." They also promised to continue searching for other possible survivors.
Officials involved in rescue operations said that while large construction machinery had been employed in the search Monday, they would also proceed cautiously using fiber optical scopes and rescue dogs.
"Our belief that there are still survivors yet to be found has turned into conviction," said Hisayoshi Yamaguchi, an official at Ishinomaki Fire Department. "We will continue work with utmost caution to prevent injury to those waiting to be found, and we will continue until we find the last person," he added.
(This article was written by Koyuru Kinoshita and Yosuke Watanabe.)