Mark Connolly... Sometimes When You Win...

Anyone who has ever sat around through the bloopers in the credits of Rush Hour 2 knows a few things:

1. Chris Tucker is not acting; that's his real voice
2. "Gefilte Fish" is incredibly hard to pronounce for Chan-ese people
3. Doing stunts is really hard and dangerous

Number three on that list was exceedingly true for Mark Connolly. While filming Mission Impossible II, Connolly was injured when he was hit by an airborne motorcycle during filming. The bike pulverized his right arm, almost ripping it from the socket. The injury shocked surgeons who reconstructed it with plates and screws. Connolly fought a court battle to be paid for damages from that injury. But like Mission Impossible II, his case seemed to have no ending.

Now it has two. On Friday, Connolly received word that he had received a one million dollar settlement. Two hours later, he died of pancreatic cancer.

Were the injury and the disease related? Connolly's mother think so:

"We could not say it in court, but Mark always said that he only got it [cancer] because of the stress and length of the court case," Ms Ramsay said. "He was only diagnosed last April with cancer. He was relieved by the judgment and felt vindicated because the defendant during the proceedings, as the transcript shows, was always of the view that Mark was to blame for what happened to him."

So Connolly got the money he deserved, but lost the life he had.

Gloria, care to explain?

Sometimes when you win, you really lose, and sometimes when you lose, you really win, and sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie, and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic mechanism, from which one extracts what one needs.

[Sydney Morning Herald]