Japanese boy left in the woods by his parents smiles and waves as he leaves hospital
The Japanese boy who spent six days without food in the woods after being abandoned by his parents was released from a hospital on Tuesday. Smiling and waving, Yamato Tanooka was the image of resilience.
The 7-year-old boy's parents left him on the side of the road on May 28 as punishment for throwing rocks at people and cars. The boy started to cry, wandered and soon lost his sense of direction. By the time his parents circled back to pick him up, he was gone.
The boy eventually found an empty hut with running water about 3.4 miles away and spent the next six days drinking from the tap. Tanooka suffered mild dehydration, malnourishment and some cuts and bruises, but he was otherwise in decent shape when officials found him on Friday.
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His parents initially said he'd wandered off while they were plucking plants from the forest. The attention ignited a debate on parenting techniques. Tanooka's father, Takayuki Tanooka, told reporters he regrets dropping his son off in the middle of the woods.
Tanooka reportedly has forgiven his father and police do not plan to press charges against the parents.
After the boy was released from a hospital on Tuesday, he was happy and talking about baseball.
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Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
