One Survivor's Journey Away From Euthanasia
from Ian Gawler, OAM, BVSc, therapeutic director, The Gawler Foundation, leader of an active cancer-support program.The current debate on euthanasia is in grave danger of becoming distorted!
As a veterinarian I have participated in many real life discussions on the subject. I have actively put down many animals. As a cancer survivor there was a time when I was a fully qualified candidate for euthanasia.
Over 19 years ago, aged, 25, I had multiple cancer secondaries.
These were 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.
There is no doubt in my mind that if society had condoned it, a well-trained professional could easily have swayed me into accepting euthanasia at that moment in my life. The circumstances could have lured me into accepting it. However, with neither option present, and the shared passion for life of my wife and myself, I struggled on for a while and was fortuitous to survive.
But more than just surviving, through that suffering I had come to meet, face to face, that part of me which was beyond suffering. I emerged with an unshakeable joy, a deep respect for life and an urge to help others.
Now, having assisted thousands of others in similar positions, I have come to know many people who also speak joyously of the benefits of suffering. For suffering transcended can be joyous. Death too, even slow death with apparent loss of function and pain, can be a dignified and certainly a natural completion of life. No one doubts it also may be difficult.
My only reservation in entering this public debate, is out of respect for the memory and families of those who have chosen euthanasia. In difficult circumstances people always do the best they can.
Perhaps euthanasia remains an extreme option. Certainly in my view, it should not be the norm. I can say that I have not experienced the conditions where I would choose or recommend it. As a community, medically, legally and personally we need to focus upon developing best-case options, not the worst.
Some apparently well-intentioned doctors have recognised the deficiencies of their training in managing misery and suffering. They have taken it upon themselves to decide that euthanasia is the best option and acted upon it. Again, with respect, I thank God that they were not there for me 19 years ago.
Now these doctors have gone further and challenged the legal system.
In defence of the individual, I believe that the Government has little choice other than to affirm the law and prosecute. It seems unfortunate that the integrity of these doctors has led them to this point.
So there is an urgent need to help professionals and the community to understand suffering, rather than attempting to escape it in a premature death. Also, we need to hear more stories from the people who have done this.
It seems that in life the possibility of suffering is inevitable.
Only misery is optional. Rather than bowing to the potential of misery and seeking to kill it; we need the understanding, training and support to seek the deeper meaning of suffering and to transcend it.
Ian Gawler, Yarra Junction.
The AGE, 29 March, 1995