I dunno. Maybe try changing the difficulty temporarily to the easiest setting so you don't get owned in 5 seconds? Not sure if that'll work, but that's what I would try.
This same exact situation happened to me years ago in Tomb Raider 2. Lara's sliding down some ramp or something, and I saved just as she started to slide. So of course there's a spike trap at the bottom of the ramp.

Oops, had to start that particular level all over.