All posts tagged: dying

Lucy Letby’s doctor ‘boyfriend’ was found dying during welfare check

Lucy Letby’s doctor ‘boyfriend’ was found dying during welfare check

Published by Sam Flores

A doctor described as Lucy Letby’s “boyfriend” at her trial was found dying by police during a welfare check, his inquest heard. On June 24, Dr Mark Deakin, 53, was found collapsed in his car and taken to hospital where he died nine days later on July 3. On Wednesday, Jacqueline Devonish, HM senior coroner for Cheshire, formally opened the inquest for the consultant paediatrician with a brief hearing. Amanda Edgar, the coroner’s officer, told Cheshire coroner’s court: “The circumstances of Dr Deakin’s death are that Cheshire Police received a call regarding concern for Deakin on June 23. “Subsequent inquiries resulted in him being found in his vehicle suffering from ill health on June 24. Dr Deakin was taken to Whiston Hospital where he received treatment and sadly died on July 3. “The reason for the inquest is that there is reason to suspect that the circumstances of Dr Deakin’s death are unnatural.” ‘Misled and maybe manipulated’ Deakin had been granted lifetime anonymity when he gave evidence at the trial of Letby, 36, who was …

Stavros Halkias: ‘If I’m Being Successful, I Am Dying.’

Stavros Halkias: ‘If I’m Being Successful, I Am Dying.’

Published by Jenni Sidey

For context, in 2022, at a time when the show was incredibly successful, you quit. We were making so much money and I quit. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I was getting a check for, I don’t even remember, like 40 grand a month or something. If nothing else happened in my career but that, I still would’ve considered it a success. You don’t get to that level in comedy most of the time. I was working clubs. I was doing basically my initial dream, but I just realized it wasn’t exactly what I wanted. And as much as I love Nick and as funny as he is, it was his show first and foremost. And I did feel like a support player, which now I’m happy to do in these broader contexts because it’s stuff I’m interested, in like movies, whatever, but I didn’t want to be the second guy on a Cum podcast when I was 45. And so it was a really scary thing to do. …

Simone Biles posts from hospital and undergoes procedure after ‘almost dying’ last month

Simone Biles posts from hospital and undergoes procedure after ‘almost dying’ last month

Published by Daniella Wilson

Simone Biles recently underwent an undisclosed procedure weeks after revealing she nearly died. Last month, the Olympic gold medal gymnast, 29, revealed a health issue, calling it the “scariest experience of my life.” Sharing a photo on her Instagram Story of multiple hospital bracelets on her wrist, she wrote, “I’ve been in bed resting this week, I’ll explain sooner or later.” While Biles still has yet to share what landed her in the hospital, she has since publicly alluded to the incident, telling one Instagram fan in late June that she was “not ready to talk about it just yet.” In a new health update shared Thursday on her Instagram Story, the athlete posted a black-and-white selfie from a hospital room. Wearing a shower cap on her head, Biles sat smiling with her husband, Indianapolis Colts safety Jonathan Owens, 31, in the background. Last month, Simone Biles experienced what she described as a near-fatal medical emergency (simonebiles/Instagram) Biles tied the knot with NFL player Jonathan Owens in 2023 (Reuters) “His birthday but he takes me …

Simone Biles posts from hospital and undergoes procedure after ‘almost dying’ last month

Simone Biles undergoes procedure after ‘almost dying’ last month

Published by Daniella Wilson

Simone Biles recently underwent an undisclosed procedure weeks after revealing she nearly died. Last month, the Olympic gold medal gymnast, 29, revealed a health issue, calling it the “scariest experience of my life.” Sharing a photo on her Instagram Story of multiple hospital bracelets on her wrist, she wrote, “I’ve been in bed resting this week, I’ll explain sooner or later.” While Biles still has yet to share what landed her in the hospital, she has since publicly alluded to the incident, telling one Instagram fan in late June that she was “not ready to talk about it just yet.” In a new health update shared Thursday on her Instagram Story, the athlete posted a black-and-white selfie from a hospital room. Wearing a shower cap on her head, Biles sat smiling with her husband, Indianapolis Colts safety Jonathan Owens, 31, in the background. Last month, Simone Biles experienced what she described as a near-fatal medical emergency (simonebiles/Instagram) Biles tied the knot with NFL player Jonathan Owens in 2023 (Reuters) “His birthday but he takes me …

My decade-old laptop was dying until I ditched Chrome for these lightweight alternatives

My decade-old laptop was dying until I ditched Chrome for these lightweight alternatives

Published by Miika Tikkanen

I refuse to let go of old technology. Sure, nostalgia plays a big part in why, but more so, because I believe old hardware can still be used or repurposed. My MacBook Pro (2015) has remarkably held up well over the years, and I can’t bring myself to part with it — after all, it has helped me graduate through school and even college. Even though all I do with the machine these days is surf the web, the 8GB of RAM has started to show its age, since browsers like Chrome take a huge chunk out of that memory. I am debating whether to let the machine finally rest because the limited RAM hurts my productivity. So, I decided to part ways with Chrome and replace it with a few lightweight browsers; it’s safe to say my decade-old MacBook got yet another wind. Related I opened the same 10 tabs in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Brave — this one uses the least All browsers consume memory, but which one consumes the least? Brave Built-in …

why British trees are shedding branches and dying

why British trees are shedding branches and dying

Published by Miika Tikkanen

If you visit the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, on the edge of London, you will see a brightly painted skeleton of a dead oak tree. The tree, known as the climate changed oak, succumbed in the heatwave of 2022. Instead of removing it, Kew left it in place as a reminder that climate change is already taking its toll on Britain’s trees. The 2022 heatwave killed 400 of Kew’s trees and predictions show that up to 50% of Kew’s existing 11,000 trees could be vulnerable to climate change by 2090. A similar story is playing out across the UK. Mature trees shedding limbs and branches during intense periods of hot weather, their canopies thinning, and some dying back altogether. Although these changes can appear sudden, they are often the final visible signs of a much longer process of decline that has been unfolding inside the tree. The problem is not simply these high temperatures, but that the combination of both extreme heat and drought, increasingly referred to as a “hot drought”, pushes trees beyond …

What death doulas can teach us about dying well without religion

What death doulas can teach us about dying well without religion

Published by Daniella Wilson

In most western societies, death has always been the church’s job. Nearly everyone wanted last rites, deathbed prayers and a faith leader at their bedside. But for a growing number of people, that template for dying is no longer the only option. The death doula, a different kind of caregiver, is increasingly entering the scene. Some might have seen a death doula on the latest season of HBO’s medical drama The Pitt. Others may have recently heard Australian actress Nicole Kidman announce that she is training to become one. So what exactly is a death doula (sometimes also called an end-of-life doula, soul midwife or compassionate companion)? Much like a birth doula — a trained, non-medical professional who provides support to a person during childbirth — they help guide a person through life’s final chapter. Death doulas help the dying identify what matters most to them at the end of their lives and work out how to make it happen — what one might call a ‘good death’ (Getty Images) As researchers in the sociology …

here’s how they could be used on dying seas and lakes

here’s how they could be used on dying seas and lakes

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in the US, an ozone nanobubble system has been used to keep the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool clear. Months before the celebrations a massive clean up of the pool had taken place, but despite this an algae bloom had turned the water bright green. To deal with this a US$1.7 million (£1.27 million) ozone “nanobubbler” injected microscopic bubbles into the pool. Nanobubbles are extremely small gas bubbles, often made with oxygen, air or ozone, that can remain in water far longer than ordinary bubbles. In a pool, ozone nanobubbles can act as a strong oxidising treatment, attacking algae and organic matter. But the more important question is whether this state-of-the-art technology can help solve one of the hardest problems in aquatic restoration: getting oxygen to places where lakes, reservoirs and coastal seas are dying from the bottom up. Clearing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool The famous Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington DC is shallow, hard bottomed and man-made. It has no natural sediment bed …

What Visions and Emotions Can We Expect Just Before Dying?

What Visions and Emotions Can We Expect Just Before Dying?

Published by Jenni Sidey

In the movie Ghost Town, Ricky Gervais’ character finds out he’d temporarily died during a routine procedure—and the hospital staff hadn’t told him. He confronts his surgeon, played by Kristen Wiig: Wiig: “Everybody dies.” Gervais: “Yeah, but usually at the end of their life, and just the once…” Many of us assume death is a one-time deal. Yet, millions report coming surprisingly close. In a survey across 35 countries, the prevalence rate for near-death experiences (NDEs) was 10%. What Happens in Your Dying Moments? One surprising discovery is that as we expire, the brain doesn’t shut down all at once. A study of dying comatose patients showed a cascade of activity in different brain areas. Researchers are working to match these neural changes to what the person reports feeling and thinking. Of course, they can’t do that with people who “don’t make the return flight.” But some do make it back. What Do People Recount From NDEs? Many studies show common themes, including a peaceful feeling, a bright light, a meeting with another being, clear …

One of Madagascar’s Oldest Sacred Trees Is Slowly Dying

One of Madagascar’s Oldest Sacred Trees Is Slowly Dying

Published by Sam Flores

The first sign that the tree was in trouble was the scent — a musty odor that cut through the warm forest air. “It smelled like mushrooms but worse, like decomposition,” said Cyrille Cornu, a French researcher who visited the tree, an ancient baobab that locals call Tsitakakantsa, last October in southwest Madagascar. Approaching the massive trunk in the island nation’s Andombiry Forest, Mr. Cornu’s heart sank. A dark, foul-smelling liquid was seeping from the base of the tree. “I was surprised because I never saw this before,” said Mr. Cornu, who specializes in baobabs and has visited the tree several times over the last 15 years. He thought to himself: “Something is wrong.” Tsitakakantsa, one of the largest and oldest baobab trees in Madagascar, is dying, according to experts and local stewards. Having survived centuries, it appears to have entered a final phase in which it will buckle, collapse and eventually disintegrate. It could take months, maybe longer. Eventually, only a patch of stained earth — like a shadow in the soil — will …