Hideaki Akaiwa -- badass of the week

In case you haven't heard the story of Kideaki Akaiwa click on over to Badass of the Week, and read the harrowing story of this dude's exploits in the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. But I'll recount the events briefly here....

Kideaki was working at his job when the earthquake and tsunami hit. Knowing that his wife was home alone and in the path of the tsunami, did he wait for rescue workers to inform him that his wife had perished along with thousands of others? No, he ran toward the tsunami while every one else ran away. Somehow he managed to grab a SCUBA suit from somewhere(super heroes can do this type of thing) put it on and dove into the tsunami in search of what was left of his home. It is unknown whether Hideaki knows how to use SCUBA equipment but he clearly didn't let that stop him.

In case you're a moron, the Japanese tsunami had crushed homes, cars, electric power lines, debris, not to mention the violently churning, murky water....not exactly ideal diving conditions. Not to be deterred, Hideaki swam on for 200meters before locating his underwater house. Inside was his frightened, distraught wife of 20 years, terrified for her life. He grabbed her and swam to safety. But he wasn't finished. His mother was also unaccounted for so he went out in search of her, found her, and rescued her too.

But that's not all. Most mortal men would call that a day's work and be happy that his family was safe...but most men aren't Hideaki Akaiwa. To this day, he goes out on his bicycle several times a day, armed with a backpack containing a pocket-knife, canteen, flashlight, and the baddest set of aviator sunglasses a hero could wear and searches for people to rescue.

My hat is off to Hideaki Akaiwa.

If you want to donate to the rescue effort in Japan, click on this link and get a cool T-shirt for your help. I did, and you should too.