IDart - Dart Players help Dart Players
On the day of the tsunami many dart players in Japan were on their way to Sendai where on this day a big tournament was supposed to take place.
Many were affected by the disaster, not all were as lucky as Tsuyoshi und Miho Kadokawa and two of their friends.
The couple had stopped at a convenient store not far away from Sendai. Miho went into the shop while her husband and two other women stayed in the car waiting. They had heard the tsunami warning and all three looked amused when a small wave came their way. But they didn't smile for long when suddenly cars and shop equipment started to drift by. Then their car was caught by the water as well and swept away but not too far as it was washed into a warehouse. Though comparatively save in the huge hall now another danger turned up because the car started to sink.
Luckily there was a truck drifting around as well and Tsuyoshi first helped the two young women on the truck roof and then climbed up himself. When he spied a woman drifting by he risked his own life to save her and fell into the ice cold water but in the end all four were comparatively safe on the top of the truck. They had to survive another dangerous moment when a gas container exploded beside them but all went well. Tsuyoshi had given up all hope to see his wife alive again.
While in the shop Miho first hadn't realised what was going on outside. The shop owner had closed all the doors and tried to keep people inside. Only little water made it into the shop. But then Miho saw how the water caught the car with her husband and her friends and how the car was swept away. When the water started to rise she climbed on a shop counter and gripped to the scanner. A floating fridge hit her body and dislocated her shoulder though at this moment she didn't feel pain. The situation in the shop got critical when a car or truck banged into a shop wall and tore it down. Then the water started to rise fast.
Luckily for Miho there was a strong man beside her who held her firmly. Because of the ice cold water Miho's body got numb and she didn't mange to keep her head above the water any longer. At that moment the man saw a straw drifting part he grabbed it and though Miho swallowed a lot of water she managed to breathe with help of the straw. The water rose and rose - it stopped to rise finally when there were only around 2 cm of air left between the water and the ceiling. For five hours the man kept Miho there before the water started to drop again. They ended on a floating fridge where the man started to massage Miho almost frostbitten feet. When the water had disappeared those people who had survived in the shop - 4 from around 15 or 16 saved themselves on a point a little bit higher, gas had started to leak out in the shop by now.
Miho thought her husband was dead. On the next morning one of the survivors offered to look around for Miho's car. They were not too far from the warehouse and when the man started to shout Tsuyoshi's name to everybody's delight he soon got an answer.
Miho's body healed up in the meantime but the trauma will weigh heavily on her for a long time. That she found her husband safe and healthy almost is a wonder. Till now one still doesn't now how many of the dart players in Sendai and on their way there were less lucky.
Among those who already gave are three times World Champion John Part, Dartoid and Paul Lim, who lived some year in Japan and knows a lot of the players. As he tells the enthusiasm for the sport in Japan is great and the number of participants of the tournaments is enormous, often there are between 1000 and 2000 players.
IDart asks dart players all over the world to help as a global community the dart players in Japan after this horrible disaster. Thanks to the good connections to people in Japan to be sure the money will get there were it is really needed.