I will stop you there, no you did not need to work and your boss should have recognised this straight away. You should have been sent home mate. No way can a days work be more important than a friends life.
Sorry to hear about your day. That sucks but indeed I think of all of us go through thinking about the work life balance. In the last 5 years or so I have not taken any promotions or applied for them, I did also cut down to 4 day weeks at a previous job. I am much happier to have less money and...