VX Attack Survivor on the Nerve Agent That Killed Kim Jong Nam

VX Attack Survivor Gives First-Person Account on What It's Like to Suffer From Its Effects

Men in chemical protection suits carry an injured person during a joint anti-terrorism drill conducted by Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, Police and Fire Department at Onomiya Station on November 17, 2005, in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, North of Tokyo, Japan. The drill conducted amid increased terrorism concerns was based on the scenario of a sarin nerve gas attack at a station. (Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

In the wake of the Kim Jong Nam assassination on Feb. 13, a new light has been shone on the toxin that killed him—a deadly VX nerve agent, which was rubbed on his face by two female assailants.

According to a first-person account given by a man who was attacked with the same nerve agent, its effects are horrific. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Japanese man Hiroyuki Nagaoka recounted the desperate minutes after he was sprayed with the nerve agent in 1995 by members of a religious cult. “[Nagaoka] tore at his skin, which felt like it had caught fire. His body was soaked in sweat. Soon after he lost consciousness,” describes the article. “When he awoke two weeks later in a hospital, Mr. Nagaoka said his wrists were tied to the bed frame to stop his constant thrashing around.”

For more on the lethal VX nerve agent, watch CNN’s video below.