Jess Battison
In April 1986, the Chernobyl disaster began when the No.4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. Over 300,000 people ended up being evacuated and it led to the deaths of workers and by 2011, 15 childhood thyroid cancer deaths had been attributed to it.
Nowadays, a small number of people still live in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone but children are not allowed to live there.
For a Yes Theory documentary, a man decided to stay inside the ‘only hotel within the zone’, spending 50 hours in the most radioactive place on Earth. And while he was there, he uncovered a heartbreaking story.
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The team met with Chernobyl expert Mykahilo Teslenko who was going to be taking them around the area. He also equipped them with ‘body counters’ to record how much exposure to radiation they had during the trip.
After visiting a ‘ghost town’ and meeting ‘some grandmas that decided to move back into the exclusion zone’ they visited the site to learn about the clean-up.
And then, they made a sad discovery about their tour guide’s background.
As he explained how it’s going to take an extremely long time to make the area safe again, he revealed his own family’s involvement.
“My grandpa was one of those liquidators who were involved in cleaning this site immediately after the accident,” Teslenko explained.
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“So, he was working on a tractor and removing highly contaminated soil around the power station."
Adding how his grandma still has hold of all the ‘documents’, he revealed the man’s sad fate.
“His death was directly linked to high doses of radiation that he obtained over here.”
Teslenko’s grandad died at just 39 after working to help with the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster.
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The man then went to speak with a liquidator who did survive. Sergii Mirnyi was a civil chemist in the Soviet Union and was called in to help following the accident.
“Chernobyl was a real disaster for the liquidators. I did have PTSD,” he said.
He was there for 35 ‘days and nights’ working the job ‘around the clock’. Mirnyi added that he wants people to know: “Chernobyl is a story of survival, of overcoming, of painful learning and you know, prospects for a new life.
“Chernobyl really made me a different person, it made me stronger, more responsible, more humane in a way.”
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Following his 50 hours there, the documentary host described the experience as ‘devastating’ but added: “I felt inspired to hear the brave stories of those who survived it.
“And learned that even in the darkest of places in the darkest of times that courage seeking a positive perspective and keeping our head high can be a choice.”