Death
Carleton had experienced a number of health scares, the first in 1988 when he underwent heart bypass surgery, which was nationally televised, and another in 2003 when he suffered a heart attack. In 2005 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
On 7 May 2006, Carleton collapsed from a massive heart attack during a press conference at the Beaconsfield gold mine, shortly after questioning mine manager Matthew Gill on previous safety issues at the site. His last words were:
| “ | On 26 October last year, not 10 metres from where these men are now entombed, you had a 400-tonne rock fall. Why is it, is it the strength of the seam, or the wealth of the seam, that you continue to send men into work in such a dangerous environment?. | ” |
First-hand reports from the scene indicated that Carleton had a weak pulse when taken by ambulance to the Launceston General Hospital and that he had been puffing and gasping not long before he collapsed. Carleton died at 2:12 p.m, in the ambulance on the way to hospital.
In the telemovie about the accident, Beaconsfield, Carleton was played by Steve Vizard.
Read more about this topic: Richard Carleton
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“In every unbeliever’s heart there is an uneasy feeling that, after all, he may awake after death and find himself immortal. This is his punishment for his unbelief. This is the agnostic’s Hell.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“Oh, you cold-blooded English. You’ll be the death of me.”
—Norman Reilly Raine (1895–1971)
“For in the word death
There is nothing to grasp; nothing to catch or claim;
Nothing to adapt the skill of the heart to, skill
In surviving, for death it cannot survive,
Only resign the irrecoverable keys.
The wave falters and drowns. The coulter of joy
Breaks. The harrow of death
Depends. And there are thrown up waves.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)