Sadako Sasaki

Sadako Sasaki (佐々木 禎子 ), January 7, 1943 – October 25, 1955, was a Japanese girl who was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945, near her home in Hiroshima, Japan.

Sadako was at home when the explosion occurred, about one mile from Ground Zero. In November 1954, Sadako developed swellings on her neck and behind her ears. In January 1955, purple spots had formed on her legs. Subsequently, she was diagnosed with leukemia. She was hospitalized in 1955, and given, at the most, a year to live.

 There is an ancient Japanese story that promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the Gods. Sadako knew it and started to fold origami cranes to become healthy again. But she fell short of her goal of folding 1,000 cranes, having folded only 644 before her death, and that her friends completed the 1,000 and buried them all with her.