And on a lighter note - Terry Pratchett

diver

diver

Well-Known Member
Did anyone see this last night on BBC Two?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13758286

Puts some of the daily decisions we have to make into some context. Whilst we are all worried about what to wear in Ibiza, how to repair broken phones etc, these people are making the biggest decision of all.

I thought that it was a very peaceful way to die and with reugulation, should be allowed in the UK.

Thoughts please.
 
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I think you should have the choice of life or death. I would rather not be hanging around in a vegetative state with your loved ones coming by once a week out of duty. I have a living will a DNR (Do not resuscitate). I am still worried some idiot will think they are doing me a favor by bringing me back. I want to go while I'm still moving and able to enjoy life. puts soap box away
 
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I watched a little bit but having just come back from a festival couldnt really handle it , felt like i was gona burst into tears when the guy turned up at that place in Switzerland. He was so calm and seemed happy. Difficult viewing but a really important issue
 
Difficult viewing indeed.

It goes to show that "Your health is your wealth" as that guy was minted, but it meant nothing in the end (other than the fact he could afford the £10k to do it).
 
I watched the last 20mins or so of it. Very very upsetting, especially the final death scene. I perhaps naively imagined that going to Dignitas meant dying a peaceful death. Although Peter was only in discomfort for a matter of seconds, you could still see that moment of terror pass his face before he slipped into unconsciousness.
Also the female doctor by his side made me feel quite uneasy. I can't help but feel I would be more happy to die somewhere in the UK, with my friends and family around me. The Dignitas clinic was hardly a beautiful place to go, looked more like an industrial estate in the middle of Switzerland.

I thought it was very sad that a man who at that time was lucid and mobile should feel he had no option other than to travel abroad and commit suicide. It's a shame he didn't feel confident enough in the medical care here in the UK to stay and deal with his illness and subsequent death.

A very tricky subject. I guess until you are in that position where you know you are going to die it's hard for anyone to make a call on what they would do.
 
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It is controversial even here in Switzerland. Dignitas find it hard to rent places for the assisted suicide to take place, which explains the industrial zone setting...

For me, the right to choose one's time of death seems an essential human right and something intensely personal. It is really really sad that this man had to travel far from his friends and family (at great expense) while he was still "fully functional", instead of being able to make this choice at a later date close to home.
 
If you know the end is coming why should you spend every dollar,euro,pound, dinar, or franc before you go. I have watched people live with pain for a long time before they pass on. This is hard on them and the family.
 
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