Death
On Whit Monday, 1889 Addy was watching a procession of children, when he heard a cry that a boy had fallen in the river at the bottom of Factory Lane. He made his way to the place and jumped into a particularly sewage-laden stretch of water to save the boy. Although the rescue was successful, according to an 1890 obituary, "he laid the foundation of an illness that day which eventually gained the mastery of his powerful, well-knit frame" and he died of "consumption" (tuberculosis) on 1890-06-09 Some time before his death, Mark said:
Yes, it is true I have saved many lives, but the best work I ever did was saving that little lad on Whit Monday. I think more about that than all the rest. To see the joy of his brother and sister when I brought him out, to feel their grip around my legs, and to hear them thank me a hundred times, was more to me than all else besides; it was better than the big meeting, and the purse of gold given at the Town HallRead more about this topic: Mark Addy (Albert Medal)
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“He should be as vigorous as a sugar maple, with sap enough to maintain his own verdure,... and not like a vine, which being cut in the spring bears no fruit, but bleeds to death in the endeavor to heal its wounds.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The techniques of opening conversation are universal. I knew long ago and rediscovered that the best way to attract attention, help, and conversation is to be lost. A man who seeing his mother starving to death on a path kicks her in the stomach to clear the way, will cheerfully devote several hours of his time giving wrong directions to a total stranger who claims to be lost.”
—John Steinbeck (1902–1968)
“No man may him hide
From Death hollow-eyed,”
—John Skelton (1460?–1529)