[phoenix rise]

what is your opinion of people that die at a very young age. i see it in the news all the time just yesterday there was news that a 2 year old died in a car accident. i was just thinking to myself, "man the kid never got to experience life."

[foreverursVi]

sad, regret, and depressed

but then again the person doesn't really have to suffer through the misfortunes of life.

[Aestas]

when its that young, 2 years old. its sad, but i feel like they never knew what hit them or what they are missing out.

however when its someone who's in their teens or late teens or early 20s... its more sad to me. since they had a taste of life, have older parents who spent so many years raising their child, have many friends that suddenly have to deal with the death of a person around the same age. i think its very sad....

[dambim]

when its that young, 2 years old. its sad, but i feel like they never knew what hit them or what they are missing out.

however when its someone who's in their teens or late teens or early 20s... its more sad to me. since they had a taste of life, have older parents who spent so many years raising their child, have many friends that suddenly have to deal with the death of a person around the same age. i think its very sad....

very unlucky baby, but probably more pity if the baby is alive when the parents pass away

[HERMIT]

If a youngster dies in a tragic accident or even from an incurable illness, I'm naturally saddened but I eventually get over it. What bothers me more is if a youngster dies as a result of a violent act/crime or whatever sinister and evil cause. Young or not, I hate to see anybody have to suffer in that type of manner. But when it's particularly a young one that's victimized, it's all that more affecting.

[h0ney]

bad luck..such a pity
but you know what? life goes on...

[Tamago86]

^yeah..if you aren't one of the parents..

[koneee]

I had a close friend die from stupid gang violence. Well, what was really stupid was that he was friends with this gang so he provided them a ride to meet up with this other group of people. And he was the one who got shot, and all of his "friends" ran off and left him there. He was there at the wrong time and with the wrong people....

We just started out senior year in high school, he didn't even get to graduate and he very did well in school. And that very night before he got shot, he'd just ask his lover to be his girlfriend... It's just heartbreaking and so unfortunate.

[JJM]

It's never easy to hear.

A friend of mine killed herself our senior year in high school. Another friend died in a car accident that same year and then another friend was beaten to death by gang bangers who made a mistake (he was the wrong guy). My cousin's 3 months old died of SIDS and then my ex's little brother committed suicide at 17. So I've seen a lot of young deaths and it never is easy.

[erure]

I remember a guy from my class in high school died of a car accident, just two months after graduation. It was such a shock -- one minute he was with us and the next minute he wasn't. I feel like he is frozen in time while the rest of us continue our lives -- he will always be stuck at 18 years old, you know? And seriously, I was barely an acquaintance -- I wonder how his friends are coping with it, even though it's already been almost 3 years.

[Crispy]

When I was in junior high, my best friend's little brother died from cancer. He was only 10.
He had to battle with things like chemotherapy from a young age.

Even to this day, I still think about the times I went over to his house;
he would run up to me with a wide smile and ask me to play N64 with him.
He was an angel -- I'm not saying this to make it seem more dramatic.
He was absolutely one of the sweetest kids you could ever meet.
When he was alive, it was like I didn't fully understand the situation;
I thought would always be there to greet me with that bright smile.
When my friend told me that he had passed away, I actually thought it was a joke.


To be honest, it's one of the reasons I don't believe in God anymore.

[Tuffcore]

I don't think people should die very young.
Then again, i don't think people should die, period.

[tlydia]

Reading most of the posts here brought tears to my eyes. Even though death is inevitable, it breaks my heart and saddens me when I hear stories like this. To me, it doesn't matter if they're young or old, it affects me the same way.

To OP, I volunteer at a childrens hospital here in Houston. I, firsthand, know how it feels to see a young beautiful life taken away too early. It's hard for me to get to know the children, form a bond and attachment with them, only to realize some of them won't make it. They're young, have so much to look foward to, yet it is all taken away from them too soon. In a way, I feel that people who die very young are robbed. They are robbed in living a long happy life that some people take for granted. Volunteering at the hospital, took such an emotional toll on me, I had to take a break from volunteering. I feel guilty when the parents ask me to attend a funeral and I can't make myself go. My parents are deceased and when I had to attend their funeral, I fainted. Ever since then, I don't attend funerals. I didn't even attend my grandfather's funeral in fear that I might have a mental and physical breakdown.

There is one patient at the hospital that I always think about. She was 9 years old and had to be one of the most precious thing in the entire world. I remember when I volunteered, I took notice that she always wore pink. When I asked her if it was her favorite color, she replied no. I then asked her how come she wore pink all the time. She informed me she wore pink so people will know she was a girl (she was bald.) That made my eyes water. She was so energetic, funny, and optimistic. Her smile was really priceless. Her family and I were beyond estatic when we found out that there was a bone marrow match for her. She was so happy. Her family was happy. I was happy. Before the bone marrow could reach her, she died.

I really do have respect for pediatricians, pediatric nurses, nurse practioners (anyone who has to deal with ill children) It takes alot of love, courage, and faith to do what they do everyday.

[cavil.]

It's sad. It's part of life.

But it's sad.

[phoenix rise]

Reading most of the posts here brought tears to my eyes. Even though death is inevitable, it breaks my heart and saddens me when I hear stories like this. To me, it doesn't matter if they're young or old, it affects me the same way.

To OP, I volunteer at a childrens hospital here in Houston. I, firsthand, know how it feels to see a young beautiful life taken away too early. It's hard for me to get to know the children, form a bond and attachment with them, only to realize some of them won't make it. They're young, have so much to look foward to, yet it is all taken away from them too soon. In a way, I feel that people who die very young are robbed. They are robbed in living a long happy life that some people take for granted. Volunteering at the hospital, took such an emotional toll on me, I had to take a break from volunteering. I feel guilty when the parents ask me to attend a funeral and I can't make myself go. My parents are deceased and when I had to attend their funeral, I fainted. Ever since then, I don't attend funerals. I didn't even attend my grandfather's funeral in fear that I might have a mental and physical breakdown.

There is one patient at the hospital that I always think about. She was 9 years old and had to be one of the most precious thing in the entire world. I remember when I volunteered, I took notice that she always wore pink. When I asked her if it was her favorite color, she replied no. I then asked her how come she wore pink all the time. She informed me she wore pink so people will know she was a girl (she was bald.) That made my eyes water. She was so energetic, funny, and optimistic. Her smile was really priceless. Her family and I were beyond estatic when we found out that there was a bone marrow match for her. She was so happy. Her family was happy. I was happy. Before the bone marrow could reach her, she died.

I really do have respect for pediatricians, pediatric nurses, nurse practioners (anyone who has to deal with ill children) It takes alot of love, courage, and faith to do what they do everyday.

wow.

[damyoungji]

Regardless of how old someone is, nobody deserve to die. Although death cannot be prevented, nobody has the right to say someone does not have the right to live. When young people die, I get upset and I feel really bad for them and their family. Why? The reason being that they never got the chance to experience a lot of stuff in life (especially the ones who were born with an illness or got it later on - or into an accident). I'm not sure if it's the same for others, but sometimes it is a wake-up call for me. To appreciate life while I can because anything can happen to anyone.

[bonbons]

it breaks my heart.
especially children that were murdered, died from illnesses, they still retained that innocence, something that adults do not have. and it's sad to see them pass away. but that's a part of life.I feel like they understand so much more than us adults.

I mean, no one deserves to die at a young age, but that is a part of life and death.

[crayon851]

Can anyone see themselves in their 30's ,40's 50's etc?

[kitanablade3]

That's never fun to hear about, especially when you see the parents or they're close to you.
Last week one of my students died the morning following my Monday class with him. He was only 22 (two years younger than ME!!! WTH?!)
He had a heart condition since birth and had a fatal heart attack. He was such a great guy, excited to do his final project for my class, and he loved his 4-year-old daughter so much.
That truly broke my heart, because I started thinking about what I wanted to do in life when I was 22...not even that long ago. Where I wanted to be when I was 30
Making video games, practicing my art, owning my own 3D animation/design company...all the things he will never be ABLE to do if he wanted to now.
We had just had that conversation in class one day and with his talent and ambition I knew he would have made it big in 3D...now he's gone.

The funeral was this past weekend and it was absolutely horrible to see his family grieve. His daughter seemed sorta clueless about the exact nature of what was happening.
I've been to many funerals in my life, but this was the first one I really broke down and cried.
You know when my grandma died I wasn't close to her but I kinda came to terms with the fact she was old and complications with diabetes.
But when your student who isn't much younger than you suddenly gets taken, you wonder what they could be and it's really upsetting.

I'm not wording this the way I wanted to, I'm still a bit upset over the whole thing. But I guess like everyone else, it's shocking and unfortunate that they would have to go so young
Two teens were killed by a drunk driver a few days ago in my city, that was also pretty sad and shocking.
Even though I didn't know them personally, you can't help but wonder. They seemed like good kids.

[ayahuasca]

Sadly I too have had my share. I watched my grandmother's body progressively fail her over 4 years. Sad to think that she endured the trials of the wars and restarting her life in a new country only to have her body give out on her, she had inoperable livel cancer. One side benefit was that it inured me to the fact we were going to lose her and it was only a matter of time. Of my family at the funeral, dad and I were the only two who shed no tears. Not that her passing didn't touch us but at least with the two of us able to endure it, the rest of the family were able to get over it sooner.

Personally I've nearly died twice. The first time was from electric shock. I had abotu 100,000V hit me in the chest. Luckily there wasn't much current in it and it didn't shut down my heart. The second time was from a snowboard crash that ripped my left buttock muscle open. I lost over a litre of blood, that's about 2 pints. Luckily emergency response teams were nearby and I was shipped off to hospital in a hurry all the while I was bleeding away. Now that I think about it, I nearly drowned once too....