Lucky?

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on August 6, 1945, when an atomic bomb was dropped on the city. He suffered serious burns to his upper body and spent the night in the city.

He then returned to his hometown of Nagasaki just in time for the atomic bomb that was dropped there.

He is the first person to be officially recognised as a survivor of atomic bombings in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  About 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki.

Yamaguchi is one of about 260,000 people who survived the attacks. Bombing survivors have developed various illnesses from radiation exposure, including cancer and liver illnesses.  Yamaguchi’s health status has not been publicised, however he is still alive and ticking and 93 years old.

As for the title of this post, well he was damn lucky to have survived not one, but two nuclear attacks.  On the other hand, damn unlucky to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time twice.  On balance though, I doubt I’d be wasting my time buying lottery tickets if I was in his shoes – surely he used up his lifetime’s supply of luck in those few days in 1945.