9-yr-old boy thanked by Nagasaki police for helping lost elderly woman

NAGASAKI — A 9-year-old boy received a thank-you letter from the local police for helping an elderly woman who was lost on a street here, using his knowledge about dementia he had learned at school.

Ryotaro Nagahama, a fourth grader at the Nagasaki municipal Kogakura Elementary School, was on his way home from his friend’s house around noon of Aug. 18 when a woman in her 80s, looking troubled, stopped him, and said, “Which school do you go to? My daughter may be there.”

Thinking her behavior was off, Ryotaro went home to tell his mother about the woman before going back to where he found her. The woman had trouble explaining where she lived, and Ryotaro escorted her to his school. His mother went to a nearby police box to inform authorities about the woman, after which she was taken in for protection.

Kogakura Elementary School invites outside instructors for fourth graders’ comprehensive learning class to deepen their understanding of dementia, where they engage in practical training, such as approaching people who seem lost. Ryotaro applied the practice from the class, which was held before the summer break, and tried to comfort the woman.

“I was nervous, but I’m glad I escorted her,” Ryotaro recalled when he received the thank-you letter from Oura Police Station on Sept. 2, adding, “I want to help others when I find them in trouble.” Police station chief Hisamitsu Ichinose said, “The education at school and at home was put to use in a rescue. As the number of elderly people who go missing increases, we want to enhance safety by having the entire community, including elementary schools, keep watch together.”

(Japanese original by Rika Hyakuta, Nagasaki Bureau)