I found out on Saturday that a very close friend of mine, Kristian Kramer, died last week, aged 37. He was genuinely an amazing guy who was trying to save other skiers following an avalanche in Switzerland, only to be swept away by a second avalanche.

His ex-girlfriend told me, and gave me links to some stories on the BBC about the avalanche. As I read the stories, I was struck by the gap between how devastated I felt and the cold relating of the facts. Then I realised how many stories I have written about people dying in their dozens and the emotional disconnect in those stories. I have done it so many time I am no longer upset by these stories and do not consider the human cost.

Now, after having the human cost brought home to me, I’m not sure if I want to be a journalist any longer, or at least not the kind of journalist that writes these impersonal stories.