There are stories that stop you in your tracks, and this is one of them. A tragic accident in Japan has left one young woman dead and a man fighting for his life, all stemming from a fall that nobody could have predicted or prepared for. It’s the kind of freak occurrence that reminds you just how much of daily life comes down to timing and circumstance.
According to a report from Mainichi, 23-year-old Houra Inaba was walking on a sidewalk in Nagoya when a 29-year-old man named Shinsei Taguchi fell from a window in a 12-story apartment building above her. Inaba was directly below when he landed on her.
Both were rushed to the hospital in the early hours of July 19. Despite doctors’ efforts, Inaba died a few hours later from hemorrhagic shock. It’s a heartbreaking outcome for a woman who, by every account, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong moment.
Taguchi, meanwhile, survived the fall itself, though “survived” comes with a heavy asterisk given his current condition. Investigators still haven’t sorted out the full picture of what led to the fall in the first place.
What Investigators Still Don’t Know
Police haven’t confirmed which floor Taguchi actually fell from, nor have they determined whether the fall was intentional or accidental, according to Japan Today.
Those are the kinds of details that usually take time to piece together, especially when the person involved isn’t in a condition to explain what happened.
Man Remains in Critical Condition
Mainichi reported that Taguchi is “unconscious and in critical condition,” with no clear timeline yet for his recovery. Falling twelve stories and living to tell about it is rare enough on its own.
That said, cushioning your landing with another person is not exactly the survival method anyone would recommend, and it came at a devastating cost.
Reports indicate Inaba had been walking with a friend at the time, and that friend was the one who alerted authorities. Remarkably, she wasn’t struck by the fall and was left uninjured, a small mercy in an otherwise grim situation.
Falls From Heights in the Headlines
This isn’t the only recent story involving a dramatic fall making the rounds. Just over a week earlier, a woman aboard a Ryanair flight from Greece to Germany managed to grab her husband before he could be pulled through a window that had been dislodged mid-flight by debris, likely from an engine malfunction. The plane had climbed to 16,000 feet when the incident occurred, and the husband was treated for shock and minor injuries after landing.
Between the two stories, it’s been a rough stretch for anyone with a fear of heights. Here’s hoping for a full recovery for everyone still in the hospital.