Mortality

[RendeR]

When I served in the US Navy during the first Gulf war (1991) I had to deal with death and understanding my own mortality. It was an ugly ugly life lesson to learn and a horrible way to learn it. I thought I had managed to get a grip on my feelings about that situation over the years.

Yesterday (October 9th, 2007) While I was at work, we had a medical emergency. One of our associate professors has a severe heart attack and collapsed in the classroom next door to my office.

When my supervisor and I got to him (the students came to get help) John was a shade of purple the likes I have never seen in human skin before. He was spasming like a fish held out of the water for too long and there was a cut on the side of his head where he hit the wall as he fell.

My supervisor, Chet, tried to get him settled in a better position to try and do CPR. He noticed the lack of breathing, or severe difficulty and moved John's tongue to open the airway better. I then supported his head and neck to open the airway as far as possible as we waited for the security and rescue people to get to the scene.

It seemed to take forever, I noticed that john's skin was turning a more normal shade of pink after we helped get his airway open, he was definitely breathing and the staff nurse found a weak pulse. We knew he was alive but he was almost completely unresponsive.. I say almost because I noticed that whenever I spoke directly to John, encouraging him to keep breathing and "hang in there" he reacted with a hard gasping breath. So i held his head and I talked to him in a strong loud voice, basically telling him not to give up and that he'd be alright.

After what seemed an eternity the paramedics arrived and finally took over treating him. His heartbeat was erratic and they never got a steady rhythm going before transporting him to the hospital.

So it was a bit of a rough day yesterday. Thankfully, I did hear that John was alive and in critical condition in the ICU. They got his heart back into a strong regular rhythm and from what I was told it looks like he's going to pull through.

So i am relieved for John and his family, he is an elderly man and some co-workers have mentioned that he's looked a bit haggard lately, so perhaps this has been building a bit.

Mortality is a topic that sets our brains buzzing, because after all these millenia, we still don't understand it. Its the final mystery. No matter our technology, or science, our religions, everything...we still just don't know. What happens when we die? What is it like to die?

Its a disturbing feeling to hold a man and talk to him, knowing that his life could simply cease at any moment, right there in your fingertips. To wonder if the last thing he ever knows is the sound of your voice cajoling him into one more gasp of existence.

I thought I got a grip on how I felt about all this, but it seems all this has done is dredge up a lot of repressed anxiety.

Meh, I'm entirely too melodramatic.

chow.

[Marc Vaughan]

Shit - well done on being so proactive in that situation, I only hope I could do the same.

With regards to the mortality discussion - I think most humans when they are young are able to happily ignore it and consider themselves effectively 'immortal', as you age you realise this isn't the case and have to find your own ways to come to terms with things.

I don't think I have effectively I consider myself a Christian cynic (ie. I'm a christian with 'questions'), as such I'm 'covered' with the whole heaven scenario ;)

I did read an interesting quote the other day which might be of interest to the non-religious people here, it went along the lines of "Why be scared of not existing - I spent a heck of a lot longer not existing than I have being in existance and it didn't bother me before I was born so why should it when I go back to that state" (which is very true when you think about it - but really freaky to consider all the same).

[Marc Vaughan]

PS - On a mortality note am I the only one who finds pain less noticable as they age, as a kid a minor graze would leave me in agony and incapable - as I get older I notice that I respond less and less to pain.

I was ill last night and had severe pains in my stomach but despite this found I could operate fairly normally (mainly because I really couldn't be bothered to sit around and do nothing, that drives me mad) - something which as a younger person would have been impossible imho.

[Subby]

Don't really have a lot to add - just wanted to say that was difficult to read, but good reading nonetheless.

[Warhammer]

PS - On a mortality note am I the only one who finds pain less noticable as they age, as a kid a minor graze would leave me in agony and incapable - as I get older I notice that I respond less and less to pain.


I've found I'm the opposite. Although that may be a subconscious ploy to get the wife to fawn over me.

[molson]

I've never experienced anything close to either of those situations, but one thing I read really stuck with me. I can't remember the name of the author of book, but it was one of those 7 year tour of duty stories. He talked about seeing human bodies torn apart, and described how it really sunk in that we were nothing more than meat and blood. He really felt a pure finality of existence.

I'm not close to making the point as well as he did, but that's what came to mind when I read the original post.

[King of New York]

Good job, RendeR.

Mortality exists because it serves an essential biological and evolutionary function.

"Death caused by aging clears the population of ancestors and frees space for progeny carrying new useful traits."

or, to put it another way,

"Every new trait appearing in the offspring would be inevitably diluted by the ocean of old traits carried by parents, grandparents, etc., if they were immortal. In other words, immortality of specimens belonging to any biological species would block the progressive development of that species."

So, basically, when you die, you are taking one for the species and for all living things.

There's a very good overview of the scientific debates over the biological function of aging and death here:

hxxp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1374/is_1_62/ai_82013457

and here:

hxxp://www.senescence.info/evolution.html

[RendeR]

Update:

Unfortunately our efforts were not enough. John Michaels passed away early this morning from complications of his heart attack.

John started working here at Medaille College in 2001 as a guest speaker on CIS and became an associate professor soon after. He was the chairman of the department and was in the proces of researching a new and improved corriculum for the school.

Sorry i couldn't save you John.

[Marc Vaughan]

Very sorry to har that RendeR.