Opinion: Dying with Dignity

Warning: This piece talks about suicide and death, and may be upsetting to some.

On Wednesday Tony Nicklinson died, and that?s a tragedy. Of course it?s a tragedy for his friends and family, as any death is, but in Tony?s case it?s especially tragic because he was a man who wanted to face the end on his own terms; a man who even welcomed death. And the British courts said no.

Tony suffered from Locked-in Syndrome,?a result of a stroke in 2005 which almost completely paralysed him and left him trapped in what he described as ?a living nightmare?. Although his mind was as sharp as ever, Tony could only communicate by blinking and was utterly dependant on others to care for him. With the prospect of (as he described it) dribbling his way through the next 20 years before him, completely unable to do anything for himself and barely able to communicate with his loved ones, he made the decision to end his own life.

Tony Nickilson?was not suffering from passing depression, he was not being pressured by anyone and he was completely lucid.

Suicide is never an easy topic to talk about and it?s an especially difficult one to legislate on, but given the number of recent cases like Tony?s, it?s a conversation that needs to be had. Tony, as a clear-minded and intelligent individual, made the decision to take his own life. He was not suffering from passing depression, he was not being pressured by anyone and he was completely lucid. The decision to take your own life is not one to be made lightly, but after living with Locked-in Syndrome for seven years he knew that he wanted to have the option. He insisted that he didn?t want to go yet but he did want to know that, when the time came, his doctor and his family would not be in danger of prosecution if they helped him to die comfortably. With that in mind, he went to court to argue his case and get an assurance that his family would be safe when he was gone.

Tony?s desire to face death on his own terms isn?t a new idea. It was somewhat run-of-the-mill for the Victorians, who had such cocktails of drugs sloshing around in their society that choosing to die without pain, in the comfort of your own home, was a relatively straightforward option. Ironically, it?s our recent medical advances that have made life so unliveable for some. Go back 100 years and the stroke that locked Tony inside his own body would surely have killed him, and when asked ?Do you regret the surgeons saving your life??, he admitted that if he?d known the end result he would never have called for an ambulance. That?s not to say that stroke victims shouldn?t be helped; of course we should do everything we can to save people. Modern medicine has improved the lives of countless people and we should be incredibly proud of what science has achieved. However, we have to acknowledge that with our responsibility to save lives we, as a society, must also take responsibility for the state that those lives are left in.

Not all of the problems that drive someone to take their own life can be helped.

In 1993 we changed the law so suicide would be decriminalised in Ireland. We didn?t do it because we thought that suicide was no longer a problem, we did it because it?s a huge problem and we need to acknowledge that victims of suicide are just that: victims who should be helped, not punished. But not all of the problems that drive someone to take their own life can be helped. Tony?s decision was one that he spent years thinking over and, with no hope of recovery or improvement in his condition, he decided that that was not the kind of life he wanted to live.

Unfortunately, those with (arguably) the best reasons to want to die are the ones who are least able to carry out their own wishes. Victims of total paralysis, motor neuron disease and other conditions are trapped not only within their own bodies but within a legal system which does not grant them the same right to end their life that a more able-bodied person has. They cannot fulfil their wishes to die painlessly without outside help, and they cannot get outside help without running the risk that those who assist them, often family and friends, could be charged with murder. So Tony stopped eating.

When he heard that the English High Court had denied his request for an assurance that his family and doctor would not be prosecuted if they helped him end his life, he took the only course of action left to him and refused food. Over the next week Tony starved himself, weakening his body before he contracted pneumonia and passed away days later. He eventually succeeded in killing himself in one of the most drawn-out and painful ways possible because the government and the courts both refused his request for permission to die the relatively painless, dignified death that he wanted.

The court cases referred to in this article took place in England, but the law in Ireland is exactly the same, and we have people living (and dying) in exactly the same circumstances. The legal system puts families who are already going through incredibly difficult circumstances in the impossible situation of respecting the wishes of a loved one and easing their pain or obeying the law. It?s an incredibly complex issue and it?s certainly not an easy subject to legislate on, but the advent of modern medicine means we?re not playing the same game that we were when these laws were drafted. We?ve changed the rules, and it?s time we acknowledged that.

If you?ve been affected by any of the issues raised in this article and wish to talk to someone, you can contact Samaritans on 1850 60 90 90.

Source: http://ramp.ie/index.php/opinion/opinion-dying-dignity/

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