So very sorry to hear about your neighbor's painful passing!

I almost hate to ask but feel compelled. Did he ever come out and say anything to the effect of "I was wrong" and that he regretted his exposure and exposing others?

I'd like to think by so doing, he influenced other disbelievers among his RL and online friends to take precautions. If people who finally get mortally sick, don't "see the light" about the benefit of mask wearing and other social care, who will?

(Rereading this thread, I seem to get messages pro and con about his evolution in this direction.)

I think it would be really hard to be on your death bed and admit you were wrong about the disease that is about to kill you.

I guess if people in that situation want to blame the mask, Obama, or the devil, that's fine.

We all know what happened.

I do worry (not directed at you, Amanda, or anyone here) whether we are lapsing into some of the unfortunate beliefs people had with AIDS where we look for ways to blame the victim.

Even with someone like Herman Cain, you can't know where they got it. And you can do every single thing right and still get it. Let's treat every death as a tragedy, with no need to decide whether we think the victim was "careful enough."

If anyone is to blame, it is leaders who (1) had the power and time to take steps to protect people, but (2) chose not to.

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Let's treat every death as a tragedy

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If anyone is to blame, it is leaders who (1) had the power and time to take steps to protect people, but (2) chose not to.

Yes to both of these points.

Every death a tragedy, and every patient a victim.

There's only one person about whom I wouldn't say that, and he is (as far as we know) not sick. Yet.

so sad...

Sorry B L

We were out today weeding Dick's front garden in his honor when a neighbor stopped by to confirm what he had heard..word is traveling....

The friend is still in isolation. He stays on the porch and we talk to him at a good distance (He has another test this week, his third)...he will be our new neighbor for now and we are happy for him..and he is devoted to Dick and will be working with the family to go through his things with sensitivity and love..All good.

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Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
[QUOTE]Let's treat every death as a tragedy

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If anyone is to blame, it is leaders who (1) had the power and time to take steps to protect people, but (2) chose not to...Every death a tragedy, and every patient a victim.

Yes to both of these points.

I certainly didn't mean to suggest any different about the tragedy of every death.

I was inquiring about this poor man's attitude, as a matter of interest in people's response to getting sick from an illness whose gravity (even existence) they had denied.

I keep hoping for a national turn-around in realism about this disease - a change that would have major safety implications for everyone. If even victims continue denying its reality, it suggests there's that much less hope to "convert" the deniers.

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I keep hoping for a national turn-around in realism about this disease - a change that would have major safety implications for everyone.

Me too! I just don't know how, for example, the anti-maskers can be convinced... How to change hearts and minds (look at LGBT rights, same sex marriage and how long that took), it usually takes a generation.

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If even victims continue denying its reality, it suggests there's that much less hope to "convert" the deniers.

Indeed.

Amanda, in the end he did redeem himself in that he posted unvarnished tales of his treatments and fears in the hospital.

But I do not hold him responsible for not make a 'statement'..in the end he was panicked and fearful...Something I would not wish on anyone no matter the cause.

A different issue but the topic seems to fit in this discussion as much as anywhere else.

Everything we do vis a vis precautionary measures against this disease is a calculated risk, based on our personal cost:benefit analysis.

I think it's a significant loss not to take any risk in a situation where perfect avoidance is impossible. I mention this because I've given it some thought in my own life. I got a great deal out of the article someone posted in which the decisions of seven (including Fauci) top epidemiologists were discussed. All took varied degrees of risk in their own lives (for example, in whether or not they'd eat out and under what conditions). There's so much extreme anxiety out there, fear that doesn't allow for any latitude even if (another example) one lives in an area which is scarcely affected at a given point in time.

This was one of the mitigating factors those epidemiologists cited in their decision making. Nothing is absolute. This is one of the great challenges policy makers are wrestling with now - for instance, in regards to children's schoolng.

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Originally posted by BeeLady:
Amanda, in the end he did redeem himself in that he posted unvarnished tales of his treatments and fears in the hospital.

But I do not hold him responsible for not make a 'statement'..in the end he was panicked and fearful...Something I would not wish on anyone no matter the cause.

Nor do I.

I think his stark presentation of his situation undoubtedly helped the denial prevalent among many today. G-d forbid any of us should be faced with such a situation!

I absolutely do not blame him for not taking a stand in the short painful period preceding his death. I am just particularly interested in those patients whose illness was preceded by denial of the risks run by the population they are a part of (especially those in positions of leadership - Boris Johnson, the Brazilian president and most recently the US National Security Advisor.)

I wonder just what goes through their heads and how they deal with it internally.