Pilot who died in plane crash wrote his own heartbreaking obituary revealing his previous brushes with death
A pilot who died in a plane crash wrote in his own obituary how many times he came close to dying as he joked that he was 'surprised that it took this long to happen'.
Gary Wolfelt, a 72-year-old pilot from Ohio, Indiana, got to share his final words after he wrote his own obituary before his death this month.
On May 5, Wolfelt left Lafayette in a plane that he had been building for well over a decade but sadly his plane crashed, with the 72-year-old not surviving the incident.
However, in his obituary, which was published on May 8, he details the numerous times he'd had brushes with death and lived to tell the tale.
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He opened his obituary with: “Hello. I am Gary. I am completely dead now. I am surprised that it took this long to happen.
“I had several close calls throughout my lifetime. I guess that I was just lucky that something didn't get me long before now.”
One of Wolfelt's 'long series of events and mishaps' that 'should have killed me long ago' included his days playing Little League baseball, where he said that he once got hit in the forehead after losing sight of it due to the sun.
However, it didn't do much as his team still lost 20-0.
He continued to list other numerous anecdotes that could have cost him his life, writing: “In my twenties my sister's horse kicked me real hard right in the gut.
"Any higher and my heart probably would have stopped. Any lower and I probably would have been singing soprano for the rest of my life.
“In my thirties, I got hit by a car when I was crossing the street. It was my fault as I was crossing against the light. It really knocked me hell bent for election. But I got up and brushed it off and went home with a torn up coat and kind of sore. Lucky me!"
Amazingly, the stories continued right up until his 70s, although they become less amusing and highlight how he'd been diagnosed with prostate cancer, though he said it was 'early enough' to be detected and when the treatment didn't work, his prostate was soon removed - although he then 'developed an internal leak that nearly killed me'.
Outside of his close brushes with death, Wolfelt also reflected on his life and insisted that he was sorry for anyone he offended and noted that he was far from a 'perfect human'.
He also shared his pride at remaining faithful to his wife Esther for the entirety of their 40-year marriage and spoke of his hopes of seeing her and his dogs in heaven.
He said: "I stayed lovingly married to the same woman for a long time. Hopefully if there is a life after death, I will end up with Esther and all of our dogs in a sunny field of tall grass with music playing all around me."
Wolfelt signed off his obituary by saying: "Goodbye and Peace. I am hanging up now."
Gerrard Kaonga