Photo: Wikipedia/Koishikawa Masaaki
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Three heroes honored for miracle intervention in a highway accident in Chiba

14 Comments
By SoraNews24

Luck or fate is something that swings both ways. One day you find some money on the ground only to accidentally leave it in a vending machine another day. Sometimes these swings are so intense one can only watch in amazement of them.

For example, at about 7:50 a.m. on the morning of 23 May along National Route 464 running through Shiroi City in Chiba Prefecture, a truck driver had a heart attack while on the road. With its driver having lost consciousness, the two-ton vehicle continued down the highway out of control.

Coming up behind the truck was Keizo Nagahara in his passenger car on his way to work at an automobile company in Inzai City. Nagahara noticed clouds of white smoke coming from the truck as it scraped against the wall on the side of the road.

He pulled up alongside and noticed the driver slumped over and not holding the steering wheel. Nagahara also realized an intersection lay about 500 meters in front of them. Quickly, he did what some would consider unthinkable and pulled directly in front of the truck.

At this point it should be noted that as part of Nagahara’s work, he happened to have acquired a “Driving Safety Manager’s License,” qualifying him to instruct his company’s drivers on avoiding accidents. In order to get the license he had to watch and study numerous videos on traffic accidents.

This made him aware of both the horrific damage that the truck could potentially cause, and that at the speed it was traveling, he was able to stop it…at the expense of his own car.

By applying his brakes he was able to create a controlled crash between himself and the runaway truck that brought both to a stop. Nagahara quickly got out of the car to check on the truck driver, but as her neared the cab he noticed a wave of rush-hour cars approaching. He swiftly grabbed a flare from the truck and ignited it, guiding the approaching cars safely through while also dialing emergency services.

One of the cars driving past the stream of smoke from Nagahara’s flare was Miyako Ito, a 50-year-old nurse on her way to a shift at Secomedic Hospital in Funabashi City. Sensing someone was hurt, she pulled over and ran back to the truck. While Nagahara continued to manage traffic, Ito climbed into the truck and found that the driver had stopped breathing. However, he was too big for her to move by herself.

Luckily at the same time, 39-year-old Satoshi Kobata had also passed by and saw his co-worker Nagahara standing on the highway. Pulling over he too rushed out and, seeing Ito struggling with the large driver, helped pull the man out of the cab.

Ito was well aware that without oxygen the driver’s time was quickly running out. With no good options she immediately began to perform CPR while desperately talking to him in an effort to bring him back to consciousness. However, there was no response after 20 minutes.

By this time, paramedics arrived and the driver was rushed to a Nippon Medical School Chiba Hokuso Hospital in Inzai City by helicopter.

According to recent reports, the doctor in charge said that in cases like this, “a patient even being resuscitated into a vegetative state would have been a miracle.” However, the truck driver was able to regain consciousness and can even speak. This was all thanks to Ito’s efforts which the doctor described as “perfect CPR.”

However, at a ceremony held at the Inzai Police Department, Ito deflected the praise, saying that without any equipment she could only rely on her own hands to help the victim, and she couldn’t have focused on that it weren’t for the other two who had responded to the crisis.Kobata expressed modesty at his own small but crucial role saying, “The most important thing is that he is recovering without any adverse effects. It’s good we could help.”

Nagata reflected on the incident saying, “I’m more happy learning that the man had a family. I think life is strange how we three were there by chance.”

Surely just as a random stroke of luck caused the driver to go into cardiac arrest in the middle of operating a truck, an even more improbable fluke brought skilled individuals to his aid. But even more powerful and important than luck were their unreluctant decisions to get involved.

Source: Yahoo! News Japan via My Game News Flash

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- From bad to worse: Japanese driver hits car, sends it flying into Ferrari/Lamborghini showroom

-- Japanese driver fails to stop at a yellow light, turns herself in to the police

-- Man revives woman with AED, branded a “pervert” for removing her clothes to apply electrode pads

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

14 Comments
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Good on the trio for taking action. They are models of what we should all aspire to be. I hope the truck driver recovers fully and that Nagahara's car is replaced.

18 ( +18 / -0 )

Great heart-warming heroic story.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Wow! Their selfless cooperation definitely played a big role in averting a feared terrible disaster. My hats off to three heroes! Hope the truck driver makes a full recovery.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Three heroes honored for miracle intervention in a highway accident in Chiba

They are not heroes, but more like angels.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I dream that The spirit of cooperation and helping others stay with the people in Japan, its so sad to see many Asian country that lack that spirit

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Any one that has tried or actually done CPR you will know that doing CPR for 20 minutes is exhausting! Wow that is like running a marathon, its not easy! well done to every one. In the UK all companies have to have a "Qualified first aider" is this the case for Japan and other asian countries? if not it should be, and it should be made mandatory by law.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The truck driver was 3-times lucky, with rapid assistance from passers by in time. A few years ago a young woman crashed a Nissan Fairlady at very high speed late at night where I live in Australia. Within a minute a surgeon happened to be driving past. She was unconscious with very complicated fractures and spinal damage, but that happened to be the doctor's speciality and he was able to keep her alive until paramedics arrived. She's recovered thanks to extrardinarily good luck.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

"extraordinarily"

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Lucky Guy.

Back home, getting a drivers licence includes attending a 1st Aid course(cpr, etc).

In addition we need to carry a 1st Aid kit(regulated and checked).

Failure to give Aid is punishable by fine, etc.

.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Very cool story, need more of these than the usual one here.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Praise to the people for helping out a stranger in need! The previous posters have said it better than me.

Couple of things...to the writer of the article here....

In your "rush" to publish PLEASE do a better job, this is no comparison worthy of the actions these people took to save this mans life. You do an injustice and belittle their actions with the comparison made here.

Luck or fate is something that swings both ways. One day you find some money on the ground only to accidentally leave it in a vending machine another day. Sometimes these swings are so intense one can only watch in amazement of them.

Finding money in a vending machine "intense"....gimmie a break! It's a persons LIFE here we are talking about, you should be ashamed for even making the comparison, there is NONE.

Next...

By applying his brakes he was able to create a controlled crash between himself and the runaway truck that brought both to a stop. Nagahara quickly got out of the car to check on the truck driver, but as her neared the cab he noticed a wave of rush-hour cars approaching. He swiftly grabbed a flare from the truck and ignited it, guiding the approaching cars safely through while also dialing emergency services.

Ever hear of "spell-check" or having someone EDIT what you write?

You SHOULD be embarrassed!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

it is nice to read such a story first thing. just a little comment, why do we always need to know their ages?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Yubaru

While I agree, this story was not written by JT.

It was pulled from SN who pulled it from YNJ.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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