Swordplay

A sudden accidental death is pretty much unpleasant no matter how it happens — or so I would guess. But the way that a 77-year-old woman in Indianapolis checked out was really unusual.

The late Franziska Stegbauer was trying to break up a fight between her grandson and brother-in-law.

So far, so good. Lots of families have disagreements, and sometimes it gets physical.

This scuffle, however, was no ordinary one. The two knuckleheads were not shoving each other or even trading punches. They were sword fighting.

That’s right, sword fighting.

Jeez, who sword fights nowadays except Medieval re-enactors? Even then, I’m pretty sure they use wooden replicas to make sure they end up with the same number of fingers they started with.

Anyhow, poor Franziska tried to intervene, though I’m not sure the world would be a lesser place if one of these rocket scientists had been removed from the gene pool.

Unfortunately, it was the elderly woman who was accidentally stabbed — fatally.

A real tragedy.

Then again, at least she could pass into the next world knowing that she was probably the first person to die from intervening in a sword fight in, oh, I don’t know, 200 years?

... Can you put that on a tombstone?