Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Thought of the day: Death...

It is a known fact that people die all the time. Statistically 2 every second. It is also a known fact that people die in all sorts of places. 35000 ft in the air. gutters, hospital beds, on top of K2 or Everest. In the last calendar year i was told in medical training college that 10 pax died on board and crew delivered 8 babies up in the air. It seems so normal but then when it happens time stands still for a second like at the end of a 60 minutes program.

A passenger died yesterday, soon after getting off the airbridge in Sydney after a direct flight from Dubai to Sydney. The woman was with her husband and after notifying groundstaff that she was feeling faint, she demanded to be taken to the nearest toilet. As soon as she entered the toilet, she collapsed and died from a heart attack in her husbands arms. I was able to gather this information after a few enquiries with the groundstaff who were earlier delayed due to a medical situation before we left for Auckland. As the crew and I disembarked from the plane on our return from Auckland, we walked past the toilet in which the woman had died and it was a surreal sensation. It was quite poignant actually. To be honest I actually walked into the toilet in which she died and there seemed to be a deafening silence. Like as if the room was a vacuum. At that moment i just imagined what her and her husband was going though. You never know when you will be going so i just thought i would share that with you as it really shocked me and the crew.