A Few Miracles Offer Small Hope to Traumatized Japan

There is little solace in Japan right now as the country copes with a trifecta of disasters -- earthquake, tsunami and possible nuclear meltdown. But, as is often the case in the midst of utter devastation, there are already a few stories of miraculous survival that may engender a small amount of hope in the battered nation.

On Tuesday, a 70-year-old woman from Iwate prefecture was rescued from her house, which had been washed away four days earlier by the tsunami. Sai Abe was reportedly suffering from hypothermia but had no other life-threatening injuries. A man in his 20s was pulled from a building in the city of Ishimaki on Tuesday. Rescue workers found him after hearing his calls for help, The Associated Press reports.

But the image that will most likely endure as a symbol of hope amid the desolation is that of the 4-month-old baby girl clad in a pink bear suit, who was plucked from the rubble on Monday. A member of the Japanese Self-Defense Force found the infant in the state of Miyagi.

The baby had been swept out of her father's arms when the tsunami hit on Friday, Time reports. Since then, her parents had been living in the wreckage of their house, thinking their infant was dead.

Tsunami Relief: Network for Good

The story of Hiromitsu Shinkawa is similarly miraculous. The 60-year-old man was swept out to sea when the tsunami hit, but survived for three days floating on the roof of his house. Shinkawa said he and his wife had returned to their house after the earthquake to gather some belongings. But when the tsunami struck, she was swept away, and he was carried out to sea.

During his ordeal, several helicopters flew overhead, and boats passed by but didn't see him. He was finally rescued on Sunday after a Japanese military ship spotted him floating approximately 10 miles from the city of Minamisoma.