Mysterious Pill Unleashes Family Tragedy
In March 1962, a family of five moved into a new home in Mexico City, unaware that a deadly threat lurked within. The family consisted of a man, his pregnant wife, their 10-year-old son, their two-year-old daughter, and their grandmother. The trouble began when the 10-year-old boy, playing with a metallic capsule he found in the house, started displaying severe flu-like symptoms. Unbeknownst to the family, the capsule contained a synthetic radioactive isotope called Cobalt 60.
Initially attributing the boy's illness to a normal flu, the family remained unaware of the invisible danger within the metallic capsule. The boy's symptoms worsened, and his mother, thinking it was a common stomach flu, admitted him to the hospital on April 16th. Tragically, on April 29th, the boy succumbed to the mysterious illness, later identified as acute radiation poisoning caused by Cobalt 60.
With the family unaware of the radiation source, their suffering continued. The boy's mother, experiencing anorexia, nausea, and vomiting, also fell victim to the radiation poisoning and passed away on July 19th, including her unborn child. The devastating chain of events persisted, claiming the lives of the two-year-old daughter on August 18th and the grandmother on October 15th. The sole survivor was the father, whose daily work outside the house likely spared him from the same level of radiation exposure that took the lives of his family members. In the end, a thorough search of the home revealed the source of the sickness-the metallic capsule containing cobalt 60.