'How many deaths will it take to be told that too many people have died?'
English history forgot one hundred poor souls, who probably never made it to the battle between Oliver Cromwell and his Roundhead cavalry, who went on to defeat King Charles 1's at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644.

Evidence suggests that the bodies could well have been Cromwell's soldiers who died from disease while laying siege to the city. Although the Royalist army was well-provided for behind the city walls, the besieging Parliamentary forces suffered severe deprivation, making them susceptible to illness and diseases such as dysentery and typhoid. Most of the skeletons had old broken bones and signs of past infection. Back then, they wrapped a wound with honey and oats as an antibiotic.
There was no such thing as disability in those days. People were just who they were. They got on with life as best they could and probably banded together for mutual support. Army life would have offered them a living, where they could do ancillary jobs like guarding the ammunition or working in the kitchens.
I'm too soft to have survived during those times. Perhaps we should try harder to manage unaided—those of us who can.