One of my coworkers died this afternoon.
She was a woman in her early 50s, a smoker with longstanding medical problems. (A botched prescription many years ago left her permanently disabled with joint problems somewhat similar to rheumatoid arthritis; on her good days, she didn’t need a cane.) She was sitting at her desk working when, apparently, she had some kind of … attack. (Stroke? Heart attack? We haven’t gotten the official word yet.) Someone saw her sitting there and, when she didn’t respond when he called her name, another person called 911. The paramedics came and did CPR, including using the paddles, without success, before taking her to the hospital. We got the call about an hour later.
This is the second unexpected death in the last month or two: the other was a childhood friend of a friend (early 50s; had knee surgery, got a blood clot that went to his brain). Also in the last month or so, my best friend’s father died (70ish, emphysema and heart problems, but going along okay), and my BIL’s partner’s father died (80ish, and, though failing, basically okay). Those two weren’t quite as unexpected, though neither was really considered iminent. The iminently expected deaths that have occurred in the last month or two are two friends of my sister (both cancer, both people in their 50s) and the college roommate of a friend’s wife (cancer, early 40s). The death that is still expected iminently is my cousin’s husband – 60ish, prostate cancer that’s taken over his spine.
God.