(Newswire.net — June 4, 2016) —Seven year old Yamato Tanooka, whose parents punished him by leaving him alone in the woods in northern Japan, was found alive after six days by military personnel.
Members of the Japanese Army found the lost boy in a cabin used for military exercises. The cabin is about five km from where the boy was kicked out of his parents car and left alone without food and water.
The doctor who assessed him after his ordeal in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, said that the boy was incredibly quiet even though he spent almost seven days alone in the woods. “The boy did not panic,” the doctor told Japanese media.
Fortunately, Yamato Tanooka only had a few scratches and was mildly dehydrated when he was transferred by helicopter to a hospital, but his overall condition is good, doctors explained.
Parents told the police that they left their seven year old son on a lane that runs through the forest, where bears live, because he “did not behave nicely.”
They left him without food and water. Their intention was to punish him and to quickly return for him, but he disappeared in the meantime.
They first searched for him through the woods themselves, and after a few hours called the police. The parents first told the police that the boy got lost during a walk through the woods together in search of wild vegetables. Later they admitted that he was thrown out of the car as punishment “for throwing stones at people and cars.”
Rescuers told them that they did not have much hope of finding the boy alive as the forest is full of bears, but one of the soldiers who arrived on duty to the cabin, saw the lost boy sitting at the table.
He asked him whether he is Yamato Tanooka, the boy said yes, then said he is very hungry, so the soldiers provided food and water for him. The boy explained that he hiked through the mountains until he ran into the cabin.
The boy’s father, Takayuki Tanooka, told his son and the rescuers, that he is sorry for this excessive act which has caused his son much suffering.
“I overreacted”, said the father to reporters outside the hospital in the city of Hakodate, and cried. He apologized to the school and to all who were involved in the pursuit.
He added that he loves his son and he is now going to work harder. He added that he wants to be together constantly and to protect his son while he is growing up. He was emotional as he gave this speech to the Japanese media, in front of the hospital.