Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani meets 100-year-old Nagasaki bombing survivor in touching moment |
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani shared a heartfelt moment with a very special baseball fan before the game against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, April 18, at Coors Field. Ohtani met Momoyo Nakamoto Kelley, a 100-year-old survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945.
Through the help of her grandson Patrick Faust, Kelley had the chance to meet the Japanese baseball superstar down on the field. After finishing his warmups, Ohtani knelt before her, and the two shook hands. Ohtani also signed a baseball for her.
“I’m so lucky,” she told MLB.com. “I [went] home and called my brother in Japan…it’s a dream come true. I watch every game they play.”
Shohei Ohtani meets with a 100-year-old Japanese woman who survived the atomic bomb in Nagasaki. Amazing moment at Coors Field. pic.twitter.com/IACJ6XGDoy— Manny Randhawa (@MannyOnMLB) April 18, 2026
Shohei Ohtani meets with a 100-year-old Japanese woman who survived the atomic bomb in Nagasaki. Amazing moment at Coors Field. pic.twitter.com/IACJ6XGDoy— Manny Randhawa (@MannyOnMLB) April 18, 2026
Kelley shares her survival story
She was 19 when the bombing occurred, according to Yahoo Sports. Kelley told MLB.com about the day the bomb hit, describing it as “like the sky was on fire.”
Kelley’s son-in-law added that she survived the bombing because she had been “upwind” from the explosion. After surviving, Kelley and her husband, whom she met on an Air Force base in Japan, emigrated to the United States in the early 1950s.
Ever since she moved to the U.S., she’s been a baseball fan, explaining that her earliest baseball memories are from the ’50s watching Joe DiMaggio. She currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was visiting family in Denver, Colorado, when the meeting came together.
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“Just the idea that 100 is such a big number,” Faust told MLB.com. “I don’t think there are many people [still alive from] when the atom bomb was dropped. She’s had a terrible experience, a big one. So we wanted to [do something] special. She watches all the Dodgers games and all the Rockies games.”
And she has a soft spot for her fellow Japanese players.
“Within the past few years, especially, with all the Japanese players in the game, she’s been really into it,” Faust added.
Kelley also got to meet Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who was born in Okinawa, Japan. She also met Tomoyuki Sugano, a Japanese player for the Rockies.
Kelley garners emotional responses
The meetings garnered emotional responses from those who met Kelley.
Sugano told MLB.com through his interpreter Yuto Sakurai, “Honestly, you don’t get these kinds of opportunities often. So I’m really happy I got to meet her and was given this type of opportunity. She said she’s really passionate and really likes watching baseball and is a fan of my former team [the Yomiuri Giants].”
Broadcaster Stephen Nelson also met Kelley and was moved to tears.
“I think…” Nelson started telling MLB.com before he became overwhelmed with emotion, a tear falling from his eye. “Forgive me. It’s humbling.”
“Just being ‘Yonsei’ [a great-grandchild of a Japanese immigrant], you’re standing on a lot of shoulders,” Nelson added. “For her to experience what she went through and endure that, and come here to make a better life for herself and future generations … we can’t even fathom that, right?”
He finished by adding, “And that’s why I think it’s important to hear their stories and to pass their stories along to future generations, so people don’t forget. It’s important for us to document them and honor them. I wish I had better words [to convey it].”
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.
A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.
Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.
Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.
Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:
Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60 countries where we work around the globe
Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
Shop or donate at your local Habitat ReStore
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.
Visit habitat.org/open-door to learn more and get involved today.
It’s not surprising that the whimsy of a young girl seeing a rainbow for the first time garnered a lot of likes on social media. And, of course, the dad who showed her the rainbow was overjoyed by her sweet reaction. But it was also the beautiful outpouring of love from people he had never met that shocked and moved him.
In an Instagram Reel, Daniel Hong, a professional fitness instructor, can barely contain his own excitement as he realizes that the sun has peeked through a gorgeous cloudy sky in the Pacific Northwest. With the chyron reading, “I caught my daughter’s favorite thing in the whole world,” we zoom in on Daniel. He exclaims, “There’s a rainbow outside! I’m picking up my daughter Olivia from daycare. I’ve gotta show her!”
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“Over there in the clouds!”
We see four-year-old Olivia (dressed in a T-shirt with a pastel-colored version of a rainbow) begin to run toward the front door. Daniel instructs her, delight dripping from his voice. “Go out the door and to the right. Right! Right! Which way is right? There you go!” We then jump cut to Daniel carrying Olivia, who is all smiles. “There it is, there it is!” he tells her. “Do you see it? It’s over there in the clouds!” Olivia gasps. “I do! Take a picture!”
The camera does just that, capturing the beautiful wavelengths of light as they stretch over white school buses.
Daniel and his wife Aly, with whom he also shares a one-year-old baby named Camryn, have always known Olivia loved rainbows. He told Upworthy just why this moment was extra special:
“This was her first (conscious) experience of a rainbow! She’d been drawing rainbows on her own since she was two, and this was such a great moment to see a huge one IRL. She loves art, singing, and dancing.”
As far as whether or not she understood why rainbows form, Daniel said she’s more interested in the wonder of it than the “why” just yet.
“We’ve tried to explain to her how rainbows form in simple terms haha: ‘When it rains and the sun shines, the sky paints a rainbow?’ But she’s more like, ‘Yeah, it’s just magic,’ lol.”
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He was equally impressed by the community of rainbow-lovers who took the time to share their stories.
“I was overwhelmed by the tens of thousands of comments and hundreds of DMs from those who’ve sent us their personal pictures and shared memories of rainbows and their significance to them. A magical moment with their own parents, kids, and even remembering loved ones who’ve passed.”
One comment in particular struck him.
“My favorite comment is from a mother who shared how she and her son would chase rainbows together too. He has since passed away, but she mentioned in her comment how my video was yet another reminder that the memories of our loved ones live on forever through the joy we can never forget being shared together.”
Under the original Reel, which has well over half a million likes and over 5,000 comments, Daniel publicly shared his appreciation for so many people reaching out:
“I’m so shocked by the number of you guys who’ve seen this video of me and my daughter and have sent us........