An Alzheimer's specialist, Furukawa, 51, was looking after patients at an Ishinomaki hospital when the quake hit on Mar. 11

摘要

I ran up the stairs and one by one checked 100 inpatients for injuries with the other five doctors and 50 nurses. Then I went into an office, turned on a portable radio, and heard a tsunami warning. From the window, I looked to the seashore less than 2 kilometers away and saw the black surge swallowing the town. Seawater reached to the front door of the hospital. The tsunami cut off food and water supplies, as well as telephone connections and electricity. Dozens of people who had survived began arriving, and I and the other doctors treated them. Most were wet and shivering and looked like they were in the middle of a nightmare. The staff used bed sheets to form an SOS sign on the roof. The rescue helicopters began arriving soon after. They ferried the worst casualties to larger hospitals inland.