Please! a moratorium!

"She died doing the thing she loved."

Apart from the sheer cliche aspect of this phrase, it's becoming the 'thing' to say when someone falls off a cross country bike and kills themselves, or drowns crossing a river while tramping, or while kayaking on a lake, or falls off a mountain while climbing. Just to name a few examples.

I think it's time for a moratorium on this sick-making phrase, which not only appears in news reports - usually a friend is quoted as saying it - but also in obituaries and death notices. It's as if there's some kudos in dying while you're doing something sporty.

But what about people who die while looking after their family, or while baking a pie for a sick neighbour, or while playing the piano in a concert, or while painting a wonderful painting, or while trying to finish a remarkable book? Don't they die doing something they love? But you never hear about it.

As always, outdoor activity and sport are seen as the king things to do. Yup, they're worth doing, but not usually worth dying for.