A Sudden Reminder Of "Life Is Precious"

 My brother called me at the office from work late yesterday.   He very recently began working at a large local auto auction place, and I could tell he was quite upset about something.  This seemed very strange, since he is not the very emotional type.

 Turns out one of his co-workers, just before the end of the workday, suddenly collapsed and died right there in the van he was riding in.  My brother said his new friend was only in his 40's, thin, and otherwise seemed to be in good health (although he did smoke).  In his words, he seemed like the co-worker of his that this sort of thing would least be likely to happen to (many of the other workers are in their 50s and 60s).      He said he heard a commotion among the workers toward the rear of the transport van, heard talk that someone appeared to be having a seizure or something, and had vomited.  The van was stopped and several of the bigger workers helped carry their unresponsive colleague out and onto the ground.   911 was called and the local ambulance and fire dept. arrived on the scene within 10 minutes.  Despite adminstering C.P.R., using electric paddles, inserting IVs and such, nothing worked, although the rescue people were still trying everything they could on him as the ambulance whisked him away.     

  My brother had hoped they might revive his friend at the hospital, but he found out earlier today at work that he was D.O.A., apparently of a massive h.a.  

  Nothing quite like such a traumatic experience to bring home the realization that, no matter what our cir****tances, our "number can be up" at any time.   

How tragic!  I can only imagine what his family is going through.

I just talked to a girlfriend of mine today and she is super morbidly obese.  She has now been diagnosed with high blood pressure, and her cholesterol and triglycerides are off the charts.  She was actually thrilled!  She dodged the diabetes bullet!  YIKES!  I have been sharing my WLS journey with her in hopes that she will do something about her weight before the same thing happens to her that happened to your brother's co-worker.  Sigh...

PAUL-I'm sorry your brother had to witness this. Just a word of advice: your brother has been taumatized-even though he may not have known the victime well. He (your brother) may need to "retell" the story many times. Be patient and let him talk. Seing someone die in front of us often causes us to face our OWN mortality. I witness "expected" death several times weekly (remember-I'm a hospice nurse), and it still gets to me EVERY time, in some way.

And yes..NONE..of us are promised a tomorrow...sometimes it's difficult to remember that. WE must be the BEST we can be TODAY. I TRY...but, obviously, do not always succeed.

 I think you're right there, Gina.   He's 54, diabetic for many years, has mild high b.p., and about 70 lbs. overweight.  He knows our family history for h.a.s is HORRIBLE.  No cancer, but plenty of heart disease and diabetes.  Part of the reason I had my WLS when I did, to try to head off that potential outcome as much as possible. 

  Another factor here I think is my brother was just a few minutes too late making it to the ER when my mom went into pulmonary edema at home due to c.h.f. (NOT a good way to go, btw) ..   I think that event has haunted him now for 17 years  --  not being there when she passed in the ER after they put her on a ventilator to no avail.   In a way I was glad he was spared going through that agony.  But now he has faced it with a friend and that ordeal has defintiely affected him.   

   Blessings to you and the hospice workers who are brave enough to face this situation every day.