A seemingly innocent action by a 10-year-old boy led to the tragic deaths of several family members from radiation poisoning. Obtaining radioactive material is usually challenging, but in 1962, this young boy somehow came across a radioactive cobalt-60 capsule, setting off a chain of disastrous consequences for him and his family.
The boy, living in Mexico, found the capsule and unknowingly brought it home in his pocket, unaware of the grave danger it posed. Lacking proper shielding, the capsule emitted radiation that affected not only him but his entire family.
This tragedy occurred in 1962, though exactly how the child came across the capsule remains uncertain. Some speculate he may have found it in a dump or an open field, or that it was already present in the garden of the family’s Mexico City home, where they had moved in March 1962. According to an IFL Science report, a doctor’s investigation noted, “The source was left to the family to keep and watch without any family member knowing what the container was or what it held.”
The boy died 38 days after bringing the capsule home, keeping it in his pocket for several days until his mother found it and placed it in a kitchen cabinet, unknowingly allowing regular radiation exposure to continue.
Stored in the cabinet, the radioactive capsule was near drinking glasses, which eventually became blackened from radiation, though the family didn’t understand this at the time.
Tragically, his pregnant mother, grandmother, and two-year-old sister also died in the months following the boy’s death due to prolonged radiation exposure. The father, who received radiation doses between 900 and 1,200 rad, was the sole survivor, while his son endured a devastating 4,700 to 5,200 rad.