A SAD FISH TALE WITH GENEALOGICAL OVERTONES

In the newspaper this morning I read a tale that would be funny if it didn't have such a sad ending. Seems that a local school district chartered a fishing boat to take a group of elementary schoolchildren out into the Port of Long Beach on a field trip. One of the crew, in a lighthearted attempt to interest the children, put one of the live bait fish in his mouth. The article didn't say whether he intended to swallow it or take it back out, but as clever things sometimes do, the performance backfired and the fish slithered down his throat, sticking in his airway. He lost consciousness and went into full cardiac arrest.

Other crew members tried to dislodge the fish and applied CPR, but to no avail. The man was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Long Beach, where he was pronounced dead. The school district was distressed at the occurrence, of course, and they sent letters to the parents of the children who observed this sad event and offered crisis counseling to any student who needed it. This is just one of those things that go awry.

However, I looked at the article and immediately thought of the genealogical problems it created. A Los Angeles County Coroner announced that the autopsy determined that it was an accident and "The cause of death was listed as aspiration of fish."

Now one assumes from that statement that when the coroner speaks of "listed" he means as being listed on the Death Certificate, although that might not be the case. Perhaps it was just listed that way on the autopsy report, with something a little less descriptive appearing on the official Death Certificate. But making an assumption that the former is the case, can you imagine a genealogist many years down the road ordering a copy of a death certificate for this man and finding that he died from aspiration of fish? I admit I had to supress a giggle. I've found funny things on death certificates but not many as funny as this. If that person ordering the certificate is a GOOD genealogist he or she will go after a newspaper article to describe this untimely and unlikely demise. An obituary probably won't suffice; the whole story must be found.

And that makes me think that I probably should look back over all the manners of death that my old objects of research experienced. Have I been diligent in getting the facts? I think so, but I'm not sure. I'd better add that to my never-ending list of projects to do when I find time.

In the meantime, I truly am sorry that this fellow lost his life in trying to entertain some young children, and I'm sorry in the reading of this story I couldn't help but start to laugh (but honest, I didn't!)