手遅れ
ておくれ · teokure · JLPT N1 · noun
being
⏰ te (hand) + okure (late): help that arrives after the hand was needed is teokure
手遅れ is hand plus late: a hand that comes too late to help. It describes an illness left untreated until it can no longer be cured.
手 — pictograph of a hand with five fingers
手 is a pictograph showing an open hand with fingers and a wrist. Early bronze and oracle bone forms clearly depict five splayed fingers, which simplified over time into the modern shape. It keeps its original meaning of 'hand' and also serves as a radical in many characters related to hand actions.