Bobby Leach was the second person to brave Niagara Falls and live. He performed his death-defying stunt when he was 49 years old - sealed in a barrel. Fifteen years later he met his end in a way least expected, and the following news release records:
“Bobby Leach, who achieved fame when he went over Niagara Falls in a barrel, died today of injuries received when he slipped on an orange peel. Leach, who made the perilous falls journey without receiving a scratch, broke his leg when he slipped on the orange peel. Complications set in following an amputation, causing death.”
The case of Bobby Leach is only one of thousands reported, with many more untold. An officer, hero of many battles, escapes the sword, only to die later from an infected pin. A sea captain, who had weathered many a storm and always reached port safely, was drowned in his bathtub at home.
Ahab, king of Israel who disguised himself in a battle with the Syrians, was brought down by a bow and arrow, shot “at a venture,” of an unknown soldier. Israel’s King Abimelech’s head was crushed when a “certain woman” cast a piece of a millstone upon him.
The preservation or continuance of our natural life often seems - and is by some treated - as a gamble. But could we see with eyes of omniscience, we would be compelled to say, “There is but a step between me and death.”
The moral is plain: Your time may be short - be prepared!