"After A Short/Brief Illness"

[Sundae]

Griff, in my fairly sheltered life I've known three people who've literally dropped down dead.
Not after a short illness it's true because it was an unknown health problem. And I agree it was nowhere near painless for those left behind.

But swift? FSM yes. Dead before they hit the ground. Oh, make that four if you include the husband of someone I worked with. Never met him but he was 47, which seemed reasonably old to me at the time.

Aside from that I knew one person killed in an RTA. At 17 and a passenger; the deceased driver was not judged to be at fault. All our ages were similar - she & me, her brother and mine, her Mum and mine. All now dead. Definitely a knock-on effect in their case as she was the lynchpin, hope and life of their little family.

That's not saying you're wrong. I'm just expressing my experience because it differs from yours.