Bullet removed from head, 64 years later

Bullet removed from head, 64 years later
Current mood: apathetic
Category: Life

Bullet removed from head, 64 years later

From correspondents in Beijing

May 28, 2007 12:00
Article from: Reuters


A CHINESE woman's 64-year-old headache has ended after doctors removed a bullet that relatives said lodged in her skull when Japanese soldiers shot her during World War II.

Jin Guangying, now 77, lost consciousness after a Japanese patrol in Jiangsu province fired on her in 1943 as she went to meet her grandfather, a guerrilla fighter, the Beijing News reported today.

"When she came to, her head was wrapped in a bandage and she never realised there was a bullet lodged deep in her head," the paper said.

Later, she had regular headaches, would foam at the mouth and "talk nonsense ... like she had gone mad," the paper said.

Ms Jin's family had thought her symptoms were due to a tumour, the paper said, quoting Wang Zhengping, the woman's daughter.

"Because our family was poor, we were never able to have her taken for a thorough check-up," Ms Wang said.

A military expert in Nanjing, the Jiangsu capital, had identified the bullet as one used by Japanese soldiers at that time, the newspaper said.

Ms Jin's relatives plan to seek redress for her more than 60 years of suffering.

"As her children, we will soon go to Nanjing to consult with relevant experts as to how to seek compensation from the Japanese Government, and will definitely be seeking a public apology," the paper quoted Ms Wang as saying.