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More details are emerging about the July 4 death ofYu-Gi-Oh!creator Kazuki Takahashi.
The Japanese manga artist is being remembered as a “hero” after dying while reportedly trying to help rescue a U.S. soldier, an 11-year-old girl and her mother from a current at a dive spot in Japan.
Major Robert Bourgeau, 49, told military newspaperStars and StripesthatTakahashi had tried to helprescue those who were caught in the riptide when he drowned. A spokesman for the Japan Coast Guard added that Takahashi’s body was recovered 1,000 feet away from the shore of Awa, Nago.
The Japan Coast Guard did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
A marine official reported on July 6 that a body wasfloating in the water, Japanese outlet NHK reported. First responders arrived on the scene and declared that individual dead. The next day, it was confirmed to be Takahashi. He was 60.
“You play that ‘what if’ game a lot,” Bourgeau toldStars and Stripes, adding of Takahashi, “This guy had a huge impact on the world.”
On July 4, Bourgeau, who is from Missoula, Montana, was serving as a scuba diving instructor at Mermaid’s Grotto around 2 p.m. local time.
Bourgeau teamed up with one of his scuba diving students to reach snorkelers, and another student called for help.
“I grabbed mom and I grabbed [the girl] and I just kicked for all life,” he said.
Takahashi also intervened and jumped into the water himself, Bourgeau said, tellingStars and Stripeshe didn’t see him in the water. Instead, one of Bourgeau’s students spotted him coming in and out of the current until he was pulled away completely.
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“He’s a hero,” Bourgeau said. “He died trying to save someone else.”
Bourgeau said he was able to bring the mother and daughter to safety; however, he was not able to help the soldier while in the water.
“That was one the hardest things I have ever had to do, I let [the man] go so I could save myself,” he wrote in a witness statement that the Army gave the publication.
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“I didn’t think I was going to make it,” he said. Bourgeau added that his children were on his mind during ordeal.
Once he made it out, he instructed the soldier on how to get out of the current and to shallow waters.
Takahashi, whose real name was Kazuo, started his career as a manga artist, according toThe New York Times. He found success after a story he wrote about a spiky-haired boy named Yugi and his magical gaming powers gained a following.
Yu-Gi-Oh!went on to become a global craze that spawned trading cards, a long-running anime series, books, movies and video games.
source: people.com
