death

Day 609

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Romeo and Juliet are young and beautiful fictional characters. Their love is expressed with great intensity. Romeo said,

“Heaven is here, where Juliet lives.”

Their self-annihilating thoughts come from immature, impetuous and impulsive teen brains.  Their tragic and irrevocable deeds are fuelled by a black and white perspective, typical of that innocent age. If they can’t be together, they don’t want to live. As simple as that.

“If all else fails, myself have power to die.”

Laila Majnu and Heer Ranjha are similar stories from the east where young lives end in tragedy.

Shakespeare and Waris Shah both explore the issue of whether marriage should be based on love or parental choice. Both narratives are stories of young love so all-consuming that the lovers would rather die than live without each other.

The 1973 hindi film ‘Bobby’ made on a similar theme was a great hit and was followed by many attempted and completed suicides.

While they explore some social issues, these stories are for entertainment. They falsely glorify suicide and give it the appearance of deep commitment, almost noble in it’s nature.

There is nothing romantic or noble about suicide.

Day 602

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Victoria and Adam are Elaine’s little kids. Her husband Martin is an airline pilot. In March 2005 Elaine went into hospital for a routine operation on her nasal sinuses. Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned and she died after 13 days due to an anaesthetic mishap. Just a routine operation turned into a tragedy for this lovely family.

The inquest brought out the fact that the anaesthetist was unable to establish a patent airway on her after anaesthesia was induced. He was helped by a surgeon and another anaesthetist and still they were unable to keep the oxygen levels in Elaine’s blood at a safely high level.

At the inquest it was also evident that in that situation the anaesthetist ‘lost control’ and it was unclear as to who was in charge. Awareness of time and seriousness of the situation were lost too. There was a clear breakdown in communication between team members. The decision making ability, situational awareness and ability to prioritise were all inadequate.

It was interesting to note that the nurses in attendance knew what the next step should be and they brought the appropriate kit into the room but they were not paid any attention by the doctors. There was a clear lack of assertiveness on the part of the nurses. The inability to listen and be open to suggestions on the part of the doctors possibly contributed a great deal to Elaine’s death.

Human factors are responsible for 75% of aviation accidents. If we were to look at the mortality caused by human factors in the medicine, it would be equivalent to 2 plane crashes per day.

“In short, human factors, not technical inability led to my late wife’s death” says Martin. He went on to set up the Clinical Human factors Group in 2011, working with health care professionals and managers to make healthcare safer.

Thanks to Martin, the awareness of human factors has come into the forefront of medical practise and training. I have huge respect for the man. Victoria and Adam will know that although their mother died, many others will live due to the lessons learnt.

 

 

Day 599

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Saagar’s death has brought me face to face with my own mortality. One day I will die. My time on this planet is limited. Of all the people in the world who were alive yesterday, many thousands did not make it to today but I did. All my near and dear ones did too. Isn’t that wonderful?

Being conscious of my mortality for a few moments everyday keeps me grounded. It reminds me of what is important. How do I want to spend the little time I have? Do I want to be miserable? Do I want to be calm, creative and joyful? Do I want to continuously complain or do I want to be grateful for all the blessings that have come my way over the years and continue to arise everyday? Is it worthwhile holding grudges against anyone as one day they will be dead too.

Life is a brief happening. It is too short for love. It is my mortality that makes me want to know the nature of my existence. Saagar lived his life in a rich and enriching way. He filled it with all things nice: learning, music, friends and laughter for himself and those around him. I have so much to learn from him.

“As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.”
― Seneca