Japanese tsunami, the battle is still not over

Takeshi Kanno only has 40 minutes. The earthquake shook the whole town, he guessed the tsunami would happen and swallow the hospital. You have to save more than a hundred patients.

>>> Life in the dead land in Japan

No electricity. No lift. There is no rooftop medical device of Shizugawa, the only hospital in the town of Miyagi Prefecture. However, in the siren that was rumbling loudly, Kanno knew that he had to take the patients to a higher place immediately. 107 of them are waiting for help. Only 35 people were moved to safe shelters.

At 3:26 pm, a wall of water rushed ashore, engulfing four floors of the hospital and leveling the town of nearly 18,000 people.

"My friends, my town, the house I live in has been washed away in an instant," Kanno recalls. "Outside the window, I see patients drifting off their beds. I will never forget those images."

His 65 patients drowned in that fateful day. 5 others died of hypothermia while doctors and nurses also tried to sit close together to keep warm between the cold weather, wrapped around a thin blanket and lying on cardboard boxes. Together they waited for the rescue helicopter.

Dr. Takeshi Kanno and his family. (Photo: ABC News)

Amidst the streets filled with garbage and mud around Shizugawa Hospital, it took up to three days for new rescue helicopters to evacuate everyone. Kanno refused to board the plane until the last survivor was safe.

"I feel helpless. As a doctor, I'm too frustrated and angry because I can't save people , " Kanno said. "All I can do is sit next to them and watch them take their last breath."

After the double disaster in Japan, the story of the devoted doctor Kanno with patients is known throughout the world. He was praised as an example of Japanese spirit and entered the list of the 100 most influential people voted by the magazine TIME.

A year later, the feelings in Kanno are still confused when remembering that moment. Two months after the earthquake, he returned to his hometown in nearby Sendai City and became a doctor at Tohoku University, a decision he had considered a long time before the tsunami. The city center is now almost back to normal.

At Minamisanriku, rubbish mountains have also been moved aside but nearly 10% of the population here has left while waiting for the government to decide on the reconstruction of the town.

"The tragedy has not ended, " he said. "Progress is so slow, I feel like time is standing still."

Yukie, Kanno's wife has a more optimistic look. Last March, she waited for her husband for three painful days at Sendai Hospital, just a few days before she was giving birth to a second child. After the earthquake, Kanno sent a message to his wife informing him that he was safe but had no contact after the tsunami. Yukie was frightened when she thought of herself raising a child about to be born and her 3-year-old daughter Mizuki.

"There is no electricity or gas so I have to tell myself that I cannot give birth now , " she said. "I have to try to keep warm and protect my small life inside my body."

6 days later, Yukia welcomed a healthy boy and her husband. They named their children Rei, which means "smart" in Japanese, in the hope that the boy has enough intelligence to overcome difficulties.

The 11-month-old son is now a picture reminiscent of those days and the value of life. When Yukie remembers the destruction she witnessed, she says that her love for her two children has kept her from collapsing.

"The kids are growing up very fast , " she said when Rei had toddled behind her mother. "I can't afford to look back. I have to look to the future."

Takeshi Kanno still visits the patients he saved that day, once a month, but not as a doctor but as a friend. Each time he put flowers in the hospital entrance.

Shizugawa Hospital is one of the few buildings still inert in the town until now. Thick mud, iron piles and broken branches no longer surrounded the road in front of the hospital anymore. The sound of the garbage excavator resounded outside. Life was different from a year ago, when Kanno heard cries.

However, he said the lives of those who were his patients were virtually unchanged. They have no hope of rebuilding the house. They lost their jobs and are still unemployed. Old people are sick and sick.

"I want people to know that the war against natural disasters has not ended , " he said. "I hope the world will continue to follow our progress."