urgent help please

[enlearner]

i have searched all the web seeking the meaning of this proverb :
it is not the cough that will carry you off it is the coffin they will carry you off in

but i could not find any thing please help i should submit my translation a few hours later
tank you in advance

[Tdol]

carry you off = kill
In other words, it means that we should fight illness to the very last moment- you're not dead until you're in a coffin.