Who lives? Who Dies? Who Or What decides?

The crushed buggy or pushchair

I've published stories previously about people who have survived tragedies against the odds. At times it's as if the survivors were 'meant' to live.

I was reminded of this today by two news stories. The first was about an unnamed two year old boy. His mother was pushing him along the pavement in a buggy or pushchair when a blue MG was hit by another car pinning the buggy to a garden wall - as per the photo on the right.

The local MP, Adam Holloway, happened to witness the incident and said, "It was a miracle. If the car had come a few centimetres further the child would have died."

As it was the boy was lifted away uninjured. Another small girl, whose parents were also pushing her in a pushchair, was thrown into a garden - she was also unhurt.

Another witness described what she saw: "A car pulled out of a junction and went straight into another car, then went straight into a family. There were two young children in pushchairs. One of them was in the buggy trapped between the car and a wall and the other pushchair flew over the wall."

Somehow, both children escaped.

The other story I read about was completely different. This was at an inquest on the loss of lives of six British soldiers in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Private Christopher Kershaw, 19

The soldiers were on a routine patrol and the armoured car they were travelling in was ripped apart by a roadside bomb killing the six soldiers on board.

One of the soldiers, Christopher Kershaw, 19, shouldn't have been in the vehicle but had 'stepped up to the mark' because the assigned driver was taking a shower.

The court was told how, "Private Butler would have been the driver of K12 but he was returning from the shower." Private Kershaw volunteered to take his place and lost his life.

So sad that anyone should be killed in Afghanistan. 455 British service personnel have now died in Afghanistan and many more from the USA and also other countries.

Who lives? Who dies? Who or what decides?

Other Posts Mentioning Aghanistan:
Afghanistan The Ultimate Sacrifice
The Young British Soldier And The Futility Of The Afghan War
Is Afghanistan History Repeating Itself?