Short Final

This dates back many years, to March 1989. I was transporting a heart for transplant, together with a doctor and nurse, from the southwest of England to Papworth Hospital near Cambridge. Because it was the middle of the night, the only open runway nearby was a USAF Alconbury. … As I approached, I was asked a question which is commonplace in the States, but not used at all over here: “How many souls on board?” … I could only answer: “That is a very tricky question, which philosophers have struggled with for centuries.” — Timothy Nathan