A tragic story that happened to someone I know

September 25, 2014

I heard a tragic story recently. One of those things that you see in movies, or news. Sadly, this is real and recent.

There was a couple planning to get married. He was older and had a family before. The marriage had been planned for a long time and everyone was looking forward to it.

The bride and groom were from different countries. The wedding was set to happen in the bride’s home country. A few weeks before the wedding, the groom flew in and they got busy with the final arrangements. Everything was set, and ready, and beautiful. The bride and groom were looking forward to the wedding, and another week after it that they would spend together.

A few days before the event, the groom’s family flew in. Two days before the wedding, the guys went out partying to town. Among them was the groom’s son from a previous marriage.

They got really drunk. At one point, the team dispersed, and the son wondered off. In the middle of a night, all by himself, and wasted beyond oblivion, he stumbled across a high ledge, and fell down.

The fall was many meters, and he was stopped by some bushes. Luckily, this was in a city and not in the woods, and he was soon found. He broke most of his bones and went into a coma.

The couple decided to cancel the wedding. They would still get married eventually, but much, much later, and somewhere else, and not in the elaborate way they had planned. Now, instead of spending time together as newlyweds, they had to spend time in the hospital and insurance, arranging the son’s medical evacuation to his home country by emergency flight.

I hope they do get married eventually, but events like this clearly leave a scar.

The saddest part is that this was entirely avoidable and unnecessary. Someone’s reckless behavior caused angst and suffering not only to themselves, but the whole family.

We’re all free people. We do what we want. Just be safe and don’t be dumb. A police officer once said that if you took away “alcohol” and “stupid”, 90% of police work would disappear. And you would avoid a lot of pain and misery.