Taiwanese doctor Wang Wen-chi (王文其), 92, a survivor of the 1945 Nagasaki atomic bomb blast, finally received compensation from the Japanese government on Wednesday after more than a decade of trying.
Wang became the first and only Taiwanese to receive a “health handbook” issued to survivors of the atomic bomb attacks on Japan during World War II. He is now entitled to free medical treatment in Japan and monthly subsidies of NT$9,000.
“I hope that there will be no more war in the world,” Wang said as he received his health handbook.
PHOTO: YU HSUEH-LAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare amended the Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law in 2003 to allow atomic bomb victims living abroad to apply for health benefits. However, the victims were still required to undergo a medical check in Japan for confirmation.
Wang applied for survivor benefits four years ago but refused to go to Japan for medical checks, accusing the Japanese government of being insincere. He was finally able to confirm his status through medical checks in Taiwan after Japan amended the law again last year. The Japanese government granted him a survivor health handbook last month.
Wang said he was a 27-year-old student at Nagasaki Medical College in 1945. While he was engaged in practical training at the school’s hospital on the morning of Aug. 9, he saw a flash of harsh red light.
He lost consciousness and was rushed to a nearby clinic operated by a Taiwanese alumnus. Despite receiving medical treatment, Wang remained paralyzed for six months. He and his family then decided to move back to his hometown of Chiayi City.
Wang said the hypocenter of the Nagasaki atomic bomb blast was right behind the hospital he had been working at, and that there were no other Taiwanese survivors at the hospital.
Even some of his fellow students who had been 15km away from the university died of radiation contamination within a few weeks, he said.
Wang remains healthy, even at his advanced age. He joked that perhaps the radiation was protecting him from other diseases.
However, Wang added, he still sets off airport metal detectors as a result of the dose of radiation he had received.
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