Give her an opportunity, and Pamela Christian will gladly tell you about the day she died.

It all began during an afternoon of tennis with girlfriends. She had been battling stomach problems all morning, a problem she dismissed as indigestion. But after a few practice swings, she started feeling short of breath and lightheaded, too much for the amount of exertion her warmup required.

In a matter of minutes, she began vomiting and collapsed to the ground.