When darkness strikes, the Earth crumbles beneath your feet and Tsunamis ravish what was once your life, one man stands in defiance of the awesome forces of nature. This man is… Hideaki Akaiwa!
For most of us regular folks, this is the sort of shit that would make us throw up our hands, swear loudly, and resign ourselves to a lifetime of hopeless misery.
But Hideaki Akaiwa isn’t a regular guy. He’s a fucking insane badass, and he wasn’t going to sit back and just let his wife die alone, freezing to death in a miserable water-filled tomb. He was going after her. No matter what.
Hideaki maintained his composure and navigated his way through the submerged city, finally tracking down his old house. He quickly swam through to find his totally-freaked-out wife, alone and stranded on the upper level of their house, barely keeping her head above water. He grabbed her tight, and presumably sharing his rebreather with her, dragged her out of the wreckage to safety. She survived.
OH. MY. GOD. This guy is amazing. In all seriousness, I would send this guy a case of Dogfish Head. In all the tragedy of what’s happened in the last couple weeks in Japan (so glad to finally hear from you Takehiko!). This story of Akaiwa is a refreshing tale and he is justifiably the Badass of the Week, should be Badass of the Year. Of course, as with any good natural disaster movie, the story doesn’t end there….
But Hideaki Akaiwa still wasn’t done yet.
Now, I’m sure you’re wondering what the fuck is more intense than commandeering a wet suit, face-punching a tsunami and dragging your wife of two decades out of the flooded wreckage of your home, but, no shit, it gets even better. You see, Hideaki’s mother also lived in Ishinomaki, and she was still unaccounted for. I think you all know where this is going.
(and it doesn’t stop with his mother too….)
This whole report from Badass of the Week is worth the read in its entirety. Hideaki better get an agent to help him negotiate the movie rights to this story. I would love to get a hold of him for an interview! Maybe a guest post for scuba tsunami rescue gear review. Hideaki Akaiwa, you ARE a real life action superhero – frikkin Aquaman!
