Testimony by a Fukushima evacuee: A Mother Reveals Health Issues She and Her Children Had

[JohnyCanuck]

Anonymous testimony of a Fukushima single mother made during the December 4, 2013 press conference by the Fukushima Collective Evacuation Trial Team, and transcribed by Kiiko here. It was translated into English with permission of the woman, a voluntary evacuee to Yamanashi, who gave the testimony. She strongly feels stories like hers should be heard by others so that the severe reality faced by some Fukushima residents can be recognized.

snip

Every day the government and specialists said on TV, "There is no worry." and "There is no immediate health effect." Despite feeling anxious, I took those words as is, and we ate local vegetables and drank tap water.

My children had restrictions on outside activities at school. They could not play outside, and those were difficult days. We were just living a day-to-day life, and I was too busy with work and didn’t have time to research radiation and radiation exposure. Time went by, and there was a thyroid ultrasound examination as part of Fukushima Health Management Survey one year after the accident.

When the results came in mail. Two children who were examined both had nodules and were classified as "A2," and "No need for a follow-up until the examination in two years." I was in shock.

There were no ultrasound images, and I had no idea what kind of condition they were in. It was just a piece of paper, and I was full of mistrust.

I thought about evacuating from Fukushima then, but voluntary evacuation was not guaranteed to get financially compensated. As a single mother living with my parents, I had no courage or money to leave home to support my children, so I gave up.

I wanted to get thyroid ultrasound examinations on my own, but I had been told "No local hospital would conduct thyroid examinations." Time simply passed by while my worries continued.

When the new year came, I tried to get my children life insurance policy as I thought "anything could happen from now on." I reported the thyroid ultrasound examination results in the application form, and I was told later on that they were "unable to attach any special policy regarding cancer." I asked for reevaluation and managed to get policies, but this experience made me realize that "The fact that the insurance company came up with such a result is because they decided the (cancer) risk was that high." I was worried and tormented, and this made me begin to collect information regarding radiation and radiation exposure.

Later on I found a hospital that would conduct thyroid ultrasound examination. We all underwent the examination including the daughter who did not qualify for the thyroid examination by Fukushima Health Management Survey, and it turns out we all had thyroid cysts which were recommended to be followed up every 6 months.

I couldn't trust the whole body counter (WBC) examination conducted by Fukushima City or Fukushima Prefecture, we were tested by a non-profit organization. All of us had previous WBC test results below the detectable limit, but two of the children had cesium 137 six months later. I had no idea what to do. I cried every day, hiding from my children.

From that time on, I began to have dry coughs of unknown etiology. When I went to a hospital, I was told "An increasing number of people had the same symptom." As my cough would subside during a convalescent stay outside Fukushima Prefecture, I asked the doctor, "Do you think this is the effect of radiation?" I was simply told, "We have no such reports, so we don't know."

My son in grade school began to complain of bone pain in the sole of his feet. Furthermore, many others around us, at all ages, also complained of bone pain in the soles of their feet.

Continued here: http://fukushimavoice-eng2.blogspot.com/2013/12/testimony-by-voluntary-evacuee-from.html

[Bennyboy]

1. well....

I said at the very beginning of this, what do you do? tell 10 million people to swim for it? The gov't, TEPCO, The every everyone involved including UN inspectors etc, have to lie about this. There is no other way around it.

You cannot tell an entire country, or even region of a country, to take flight, especially when you have absolutely no idea how far they need to go (the moon I am guessing) to be safe.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. the happy thought is

those responsible for the death sentence are also going to be victims.

The very fact that our gov. is saying nothing about radiation dangers, is not measuring food or water on the west Coast, is message enough.
Where do you run to ...where can you hide...indeed.

[Bennyboy]

3. Yep...

What do you do? Create mass panic among a half a billion people?

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. That woman was victimized by both TEPCO and her government.

Egads.

[PearliePoo2]

5. It's not just Japan either...meanwhile on the West Coast:

Here's a snip from KBOO 90.7 FM Portland audio interview with Arne Gundersen at 26 minutes in:

"From Portland on the south, to Vancouver on the north, there was significant hot particles deposited locally. One of the scientists we work with had air filters, continuous air monitors, set up in Seattle and we could clearly show that the average person in Seattle was ingesting about 10 hot particles a day into their lungs. No matter what you do you can’t get that out, the particle size was such that once you breathed it in, it lodged in your lung […] What people in Seattle could have done were to put air masks on, but of course by the time we got that data and analyzed it, it was May and the worst of the cloud had already passed. The authorities did know about it though. I’m absolutely convinced that authorities did know about it and chose to keep us all in the dark. There was a case up in Seattle where the government announced that it was going to be flying helicopters up and down the coast all the way through the Seattle area. They said they were doing background radiation monitoring, and it was just purely coincidence that they were doing it just 90 days after Fukushima Daiichi. I don’t believe that. I think that those helicopters were looking for hot particles and we were not told the outcome of those helicopter surveys. They said it was a national security secret. So authorities did know and didn’t warn us [...]"

Here's the link for the entire informative interview:

Paul Roland talks with nuclear engineer Arnold Gundersen about the situation at Fukushima Daiichi.


http://kboo.fm/content/paulrolandtalkswithnuclearengineerarnoldgundeersenab


I remember when this happened and I was really interested in the findings, but I never saw the results or the readings they got. Where the fuck are they? Time to call my Senators and ask!

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Some of us tried to warn people

and we were pounded here, relentlessly. Fear is powerful, but I think the Feds and State governments also wanted to avoid a panic. The story will be written in 10 and 20 years down the line in medical data, including cancer incidence.

I would be remiss to leave this without pointing out that according to these idiots, you get more radiation from eating a banana, so eat your banana. Careful about the granite counter top, and you should know you would get more radiation from a dental x-ray. Yup, we read these claims here, on the old DU.

And some of them are still at it, even when the truth is starting to filter out. At this point, it is just tragically funny. I remember telling people to stay indoors. All that summer we did NOT go out hiking, or biking. There was a reason. And we limited our time out a lot. Again, there was a reason for it. But hey, I was called an ignorant fool, and paranoid to boot. So at this point I just smile.

[iemitsu]

8. You have the curse of Cassandra, Nadin.

People don't want to know the truth, when it is frightening and when it appears there is nothing that can be done to change the situation.
I don't think it was you, who was the "ignorant fool".

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. If skinner ever gives us the chance to change names

I have considered a petition to do it nadinbrzezinki aka Casandra.

[iemitsu]

10. :) A tragic and frustrating position to be in Nadin.

Those of us, who are among the unbelieved, the Cassandras, need our own forum where we can discuss and solve the world's problems, without interference by those, with their heads in the sand.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Maybe we should ask for that

[iemitsu]

15. :)

But, who would determine, who had the credentials to be in the forum?
Silly me. The obvious answer, Cassandra would have that insight.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. LMAO

I needed that!



And of course...



That is probably the best post I have seen in a LOOOONNNGG time, take a bow.

[iemitsu]

20. Thank you, and happy new year.

[Kurovski]

17. Thanks for that addition, Pearlie.

Very informative.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. Pearlie, I just checked out that station.

Way cool. Thanks for the link.
reminds me of the things I do miss from living up there.
(Including my lil farm on Whidbey)

[iemitsu]

7. Creating panic is not a good thing but denying people the truth is criminal.

People have a right to know what man-made hazards can do. The Japanese government, TEPCO, the Un, and the US government can sit on their secrets and eventually lose all credibility and legitimacy or they can come clean about the threats associated with the nuclear industry and do their best to try and reverse policies that sponsor the poisioning of our environment.
This woman's story is just the introduction to the horror stories that will result from this ongoing incident.

[madokie]

12. Yes and this ongoing incident has no end in sight

Man should never have embarked on using the splitting of atoms to boil water to make steam to drive turbines to make our electricity. We've lost 60 plus years of trying to paint a happy face on that ugly pig that is supposedly safe, cheap nuclear energy. No telling where we could be today energy wise if not for that wasted time and resources. We were sold a pig in a poke is what we were sold.
You can bet the farm that this catastrophe in Japan is only beginning not coming to a close. I doubt seriously if anyone alive today will see the safe end to this.
I just hope the worst doesn't happen and another earth quake brings the holding tank down where they're trying to remove the spent fuel rods now. As it is we're in pretty deep do do as it is without another incident to make matters worse.

[iemitsu]

14. I second your hope, that the worst will not happen.

And, unfortunately, I agree with your assessments of the situation.
Pretty grim.

[PearliePoo2]

13. Selecting Japan as the host country for the 2020 Olympics is...

Complete insanity.
For so many reasons, besides Japan being contaminated by Fukushima radiation.
You'd have to be nuts to want to be any part of it (as a spectator or an athlete.)

Here's the latest on their concerns of an catastrophic earthquake occurring:

Tokyo to speed up evacuation planning

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/12/22/national/tokyo-to-speed-up-evacuation-planning/#.Urs0_DaA03w

Olympic risks raised following disaster panel's quake report

Dec 22, 2013
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is set to advance efforts to draw up evacuation plans for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games, after a key panel last week pointed out a 70 percent likelihood of a large earthquake striking the capital.

The report released last week by the Central Disaster Management Council apparently urged Tokyo to take steps. Some 10 million people are expected to flock to the capital to witness the sporting spectacle.

By contrast, the University of Tokyo warned in January 2012 that there is a 70 percent chance of a powerful earthquake striking the capital by 2016, and a 98 percent chance within 30 years.

The city government will draw up evacuation plans for each athletic facility and build seawalls against potential tsunami and improve roads and other transportation infrastructure.

more at link...

Nuts...completely nuts...

[dixiegrrrrl]

18. The AVERAGE IQ is 100. I remind myself.

over and over and over.
Most gov. members are not far above average.
Wel, in the case of Republicans, as we have seen, the scale goes the other way.

Don't think we have a common sense measurement, tho.

[chervilant]

21. Anyone concerned about Fukushima

might want to watch the documentary called "The Battle of Chernobyl."