What NbyNW said. I'm not even a parent, but I've felt overwhelming guilt over the death of one of my dogs. Flashbacks, crying jags, months into years. If I had a child who got cancer because of radiation exposure, and I thought there was something I might have been able to do to prevent it, as well as cancers to thousands or tens of thousands of other children, at the cost of my own life ... I can't even imagine the guilt and shame.