Sometimes really bad things happen and they simply don’t have a point.  Natasha Richardson takes a reportedly mild fall on a bunny hill, initially feels fine, then reports a crushing headache an hour later, and eventually succumbs to coma and dies a couple of days later.  The autopsy rules an accidental death caused by a clot from a ruptured artery.  “This is a very treatable condition if you’re aware of what the problem is and the patient is quickly transferred to a hospital,” said Dr. Keith Siller of New York University Langone Medical Center.

Certainly a tragedy but don’t look for rhyme or reason.  The blogs and discussion forums are full of dubious wisdom;

• beware the ice under the snow,
• never ski without a helmet,
• never ski, never let your kids ski,
• don’t ski in foreign countries,
• be sure to get a CT if you bump your head,
• don’t bump your head, and on and on.

All pointless - just like Natasha’s death.  Just a random, statistical outlier.  I pity people that allow their lives to be diminished (or worse, their children’s lives) because of some deep meaning they take from this.

I’m not saying that wearing a helmet isn’t a good idea.  And if this makes someone a little more careful on the slopes - fine.  But don’t wrap yourself in a ball of cotton.  Your chances of dying from a fall on a bunny hill haven’t changed since last week.  They’re still microscopically tiny.