2008 Woodie Awards
FLIP SIDE: Medically-assisted suicides should be person's choice
Nick Schimmer
Issue date: 1/26/06 Section: Opinion
Part one of a two-part editorial discussing the different aspects of medically-assisted suicides. Next week we'll have an opposing viewpoint on this topic.
Though it has been nearly two years, I remember my Uncle Scott's death as if it were yesterday.
My uncle had been suffering from Huntington's disease, a genetically-incurable illness that is passed on from generation to generation and has ravaged my mom's side of the family for many generations.
For those not familiar with Huntington's disease, it is defined as a "progressive disorder involving degeneration of nerve cells in the brain." Each case is different. Some, like my grandmother can live with HD for more than 40 years.
The case was not the same for my uncle. Just 12 short years after being officially diagnosed, he was bed-ridden and being fed through a tube.
Don't let the idea of mental illness be misleading in this scenario. The first thing to decline is coordination. You become clumsy, followed by the paranoia as the brain continues to function on a relatively normal manner.
I remember my mother received a phone call from the VA hospital. For the fourth time in the past week; my uncle had attempted to pull out his feeding tube.
My mother, along with my Uncle Steve, went to the VA immediately. The idea that my uncle was voluntarily attempting to die seemed impossible, why would anyone want to do that?
He hadn't spoken in months, but you could tell by looking him in the eye he understood. After all, he had seen the same thing happen to so many family members in the past.
It was on this visit, the final visit, they would have to face the truth. My uncle wanted to die.
They simply asked him if he wanted the feeding tube removed, and painfully, he nodded, yes. A short time later when all arrangements had been made, the feeding tube was pulled.
The reason why I told this story is simple. As Americans in a "free" country, we are granted certain rights that under no circumstance may be taken away from us. One of these rights is the right choice.
Though it has been nearly two years, I remember my Uncle Scott's death as if it were yesterday.
My uncle had been suffering from Huntington's disease, a genetically-incurable illness that is passed on from generation to generation and has ravaged my mom's side of the family for many generations.
For those not familiar with Huntington's disease, it is defined as a "progressive disorder involving degeneration of nerve cells in the brain." Each case is different. Some, like my grandmother can live with HD for more than 40 years.
The case was not the same for my uncle. Just 12 short years after being officially diagnosed, he was bed-ridden and being fed through a tube.
Don't let the idea of mental illness be misleading in this scenario. The first thing to decline is coordination. You become clumsy, followed by the paranoia as the brain continues to function on a relatively normal manner.
I remember my mother received a phone call from the VA hospital. For the fourth time in the past week; my uncle had attempted to pull out his feeding tube.
My mother, along with my Uncle Steve, went to the VA immediately. The idea that my uncle was voluntarily attempting to die seemed impossible, why would anyone want to do that?
He hadn't spoken in months, but you could tell by looking him in the eye he understood. After all, he had seen the same thing happen to so many family members in the past.
It was on this visit, the final visit, they would have to face the truth. My uncle wanted to die.
They simply asked him if he wanted the feeding tube removed, and painfully, he nodded, yes. A short time later when all arrangements had been made, the feeding tube was pulled.
The reason why I told this story is simple. As Americans in a "free" country, we are granted certain rights that under no circumstance may be taken away from us. One of these rights is the right choice.