TOKYO (Reuters) – The moment he looked at the ashen face of Shinzo Abe, Shingo Nakaoka knew any attempt to revive the former Japanese prime minister was likely to be futile. When the 64-year-old doctor had rushed to the scene from his nearby clinic within minutes of Abe’s July 8 shooting, the injured lawmaker’s face was bloodless from deep gunshot wounds to the neck. “What struck me immediately was how pale his face was,” Nakaoka told Reuters by phone a few days after the killing. “When we massaged his heart, his body didn’t contract. He was barely conscious and so pale, I knew right away he was in critical danger.” Nakaoka, a doctor at his eponymous clinic, said he sprung into action when a patient who had been present when Abe was shot rushed in, panicking, yelling for him to come help. With his nurses, Nakaoka ran down the three flights of stairs and a short distance from the scene. Someone who appeared to be from Abe’s entourage immediately gave him an automatic external defibrillator (AED), but it did not go off, he said. One of his three nurses ran back to the clinic to fetch another machine. But when he connected with Abe, a voice message from the AED said “not valid,” Nakaoka said. This can happen when the heart is beating normally or not at all. The local fire department log released last week showed that first responders assumed Abe went into cardiac arrest within minutes of the shooting. With no other choice, Nakaoka took turns with his nurses to pump Abe’s breasts by hand. But with so much blood lost, there was little chance of resuscitation on the spot, he said. “At the time, I was so desperate,” Nakaoka said. Abe, 67, who campaigned to support a party member, did not respond throughout, Nakaoka said. An ambulance arrived at 11:41 a.m., about 11 minutes after Abe fell, a Nara city fire department spokesman said. The story continues “It felt super long,” Nakaoka said. “He had to be rushed to a major medical center to stop the bleeding.” The helicopter carrying Abe’s clinically dead body arrived at Nara Medical University Hospital – about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away – at 12:20 p.m. “When I think back now, there are times when I have no idea what my body was doing,” Nakaoka said. “What I remember very clearly is praying fervently for a miracle that somehow, this man – who was irreplaceable to Japan and the world – would be saved.” Japan’s longest-serving prime minister was pronounced dead at 5:03 p.m (Reporting by Ju-min Park and Satoshi Sugiyama; Additional reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Lincoln Feast)
