Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decision

[luckyjimm]

James and his fiance Sarah were in my crowd of friends at university here in London, and his brother was for a while my best friend. On holiday in an idyllic spot on the coast of Ireland, after a night's partying James and a girl called Heather decided to go for a dawn swim:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/artic...7319225!7001!-1

Read the article and you will get a picture how contented and promising their lives were. I wasn't in touch with them any more by the time this happened, but it profoundly shocked me. I went to the memorial service which was one of the most moving and emotional experiences of my life. I still find it difficult to accept that one quick unthought decision could have such fatal consequences. Seeing the hundred or so friends and relatives gathered in a park days after he died, realising how many lives he had affected. Death felt so much closer after this.

It made me see on the one hand that one action can ruin or end your life; but also in seeing how full and well-lived James' life was, I momentarily realised the value of just being alive and the importance of making the best of it while you can.