Doctors Said Pull the Plug - Husband Glad Wife Stood Firm
The doctors said if he lived, he would likely be a "vegetable", the social worker called me into a meeting and told me to start looking at nursing homes. His family fought me tooth and nail to pull him off of the ventilator, he was also on a feeding tube- which I refused to do. They would keep saying "honey, I know you want to believe he's responding, but he's not, he is in a persistent vegetative state."
Wallace demanded a quick death
Dr David Richmond never forgot Wallace's response when he told him he had stomach cancer - and three months to live."OK doctor, I just want to die now, so give me the injection, or whatever it takes."
A Chaplain encounters death
I have been present at many deaths. Some were beautiful in their passing, just the close of a sleepy conversation and then no more. One minute the man, or woman was there, the next gone...I have gathered from patients in this state, that one of their desires is for someone to come and stay a while with them, not talking a lot, but just being there and allowing him to talk when he wants to and as he wants to.
Unnecessary suffering
Jim suffered unnecessarily because of an incorrect terminal diagnosis and a doctor untrained in palliative care. He was given six months to live. 12 years later after his ninth coronary and a bad stroke, he was still going.
Killing mercy
Dr. Rachamim Melamed-Cohen, Israel's most famous terminally ill patient asks: "What is mercy-killing?" he asks. "For whom is the mercy? Is it for the person with an illness? Or is it for the family, so that they should not have to suffer? For the medical establishment, to reduce expenditures? For the insurance companies? Mercy means helping others to live, and with dignity. Helping people to cut their lives short cannot be called mercy."
The killing of Baby C
Five-month old 'Baby C'was killed in Nelson by her father after she had been diagnosed, on the day of her death, as having a rare brain disorder - lissencephaly. The father was acquitted but critics feel the jury has ignored the legal system as it stands.
Pain medication is often not enough
My siblings and I watched our mother die a horrific death from throat cancer.
Two cases from Hospice NZ
Stories about terminally ill people like Casey Vale and Nick Flannery ? people who have suffered from cancer and other diseases ? serve as reminders that euthanasia isn't the answer.
A time to die
Michael's family were fully aware of his abhorrence of the loss of mental faculty. When he developed pneumonia after a massive brain haemorrhage they asked doctors not to treat him actively but their wishes where ignored.
The shadows gathered
Slowly he closed his eyes and soon appeared to be breathing peacefully in sleep. He was smiling faintly. A slight perspiration glistened from the pallor on his forehead. I had hoped he would continue talking, so I kept an eye on him. And that is how I witnessed it. Something alien was taking charge within the pallor of his face. Moving, moving up and from under the chin, it was not unlike the section of a cobweb.
He asked me to help him die
Doubly incontinent my patient was catheterised and wore a continence pad as precaution, this elderly and proud man had to be assisted in most activities of daily living. The pain was hardly relieved by treatment with morphine. He found his total dependence on others intolerable and requested euthanasia. After a wonderful life, and still in possession of his mental faculties, he wished to die with dignity.
Doug attended the Greenfields Church
"Have you heard the news? Doug's been having tests and has been diagnosed with very advanced cancer. The doctors can't do anything, no operation, no treatment, just pain relief. It's only a matter of time." Andrew in some trepidation put in a call to Doug. "Yeah, you can come around, but leave God at home."
A journey away from euthanasia
I had multiple cancer secondaries accompanied by unmanageable pain, severe weight loss, jaundice, an obstructed kidney and a prognosis of a few weeks survival. There was no fear of death. In the circumstances it would have come as a welcome relief. A well-trained professional could easily have swayed me into accepting euthanasia at that moment in my life.
Death with dignity
He was conscious and begging for food and asking for intravenous fluids. The doctor denied it. The doctor expected him to lose consciousness and not beg for food. Read hereA time to live or a time to die
An article published in the British Medical Journal told how the medical profession had made the decision to use extraordinary measures to keep Michael alive, overriding what his wife knew to be his own wish, her wish and that of their three adult children.
Inner conflict over dying father
"As a son I always thought that only death could end my father's sufferings but whenever this thought came to my mind, I felt extremely guilty as a doctor."
Voluntary euthanasia: a deadbeat solution
Kevin Yuill tells how a friend's suicide affected the family and friends left behind, and why he believes legalising euthanasia (or physician assisted suicide) would have dangerous consequences for society.
She's now glad euthanasia wasn't legal
For ten years I wanted to end it all. Now I'm grateful I wasn't allowed to. Once it is established that it is acceptable to cause the death of a disabled person if they request it, no disabled person is safe.
Nancy Crick - the real story
Nancy Crick was not dying, was not terminally ill, nor did she have any trace of cancer. In fact, she was almost twice the body weight stated on her web site and gaining. And Nancy Crick did not die, naturally. She suicided.Special Report: The Death that Backfired on the Right-to-Die Movement
Undying love has helped Ruth defy the doctors
Medics warned that multiple sclerosis victim would die 12 years ago. Every time she is admitted to hospital, medical staff ask her partner if he would like to let her die.
John wanted to be dead
After a series of strokes John was admitted to a rest home. At their first meeting John grabbed the chaplain's wrist and pleaded: "I don't want to be here like this. I want to be dead. Can you help me die?"
Faithful to the end
Stan was stricken with guilt for not allowing Margaret to die naturally as they had agreed, and he visited her daily bringing her a fresh daisy...
Father kills 10 year old son
Jacob suffered from Hunter syndrome, an incurable genetic disorder that affected his mental and physical development. His condition had deteriorated and his care was a great burden on the family.
Alice felt betrayed
Alice was deeply involved in what is called "the Healing Ministry" and had witnessed many healings and cures. When she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Alice presumed that God would heal her. However as her condition deteriorated, Alice became alarmed, then frightened ? then very angry. She couldn't believe that God would let her down ? to just die. She felt so angry, so betrayed.
Serious illness and assisted suicide
What we seriously ill and/or terminal patients need is real, not phony compassion; which is what the assisted suicide and euthanasia promoters are offering us. We need a sympathetic ear and a kind word once in a while, but most of all we need the compassionate love of those around us. We also need for doctors to be educated on the use of modern palliative methods, which make it possible to eliminate most of the physical suffering.
Doctors wanted to let comatose woman die
A woman television presenter who was critically injured in the Potters Bar train crash has made a miraculous recovery - nearly two years after doctors declared her brain-dead and said that she was in a persistent vegetative states and should be allowed to die. Within two months of the crash, however, in July 2002, Ms Liu regained consciousness. Over the next year, she had to endure six operations - twice for brain surgery - and was not able to stand up unaided until near the end of 2002.
Too afraid to sleep while in hospital
A woman suffering from a muscle-wasting condition has described her fear of euthanasia in an article in The Times. Jane Campbell described being too afraid to sleep for 48 hours when she was hospitalised with severe pneumonia because the doctors kept assuming that she would not want to be put on a ventilator if she suffered respiratory failure. "While the [Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill] Bill aims to address the needs of patients in the last stage of their lives, I am concerned about the underlying message that death is the preferable solution for people severely incapacitated or in pain." [The Times of London]A cry from the heart
"I have told everyone I have met in the last ten years that, if I am ever unable to speak then I wish him/her to save and maintain my life. I could not forgive myself if euthanasia became legal and one person killed who had wished to live. Surely, a little additional suffering is a small price to pay to save another person's life." Read Liz's story here"Are you killing me?"
A British radiotherapist tells how his attitude to euthanasia changed when a cancer patient regained consciousness as he was giving her a fatal injection.
Palliative care at home
Originally Janice had breast cancer and a mastectomy, back in 1996. In September 2000, she had an operation for bowel cancer, this followed with liver cancer in 2001. In 2002 it gradually progressed extensively throughout her body. The pain medication became a cocktail mix that in the final weeks was continually adjusted to enable Janice to be as near as possible pain free.