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New tragedy for (euthanasia advocate) Lesley Martin
Stuff ^ | May 14, 2005 | DON KAVANAGH

Posted on 05/13/2005 5:24:10 PM PDT by BykrBayb

New tragedy for Lesley Martin

14 May 2005 By DON KAVANAGH

Euthanasia campaigner Lesley Martin and her family have had to make the agonising decision to turn off her brother's life-support system after a truck crash.

Michael Charles Martin, 43, suffered serious head injuries after the meat truck he was driving and a lime tanker collided near the Waikato town of Pirongia two weeks ago.

Ms Martin – who served nine months of a 15-month sentence for giving her terminally ill mother an overdose of morphine and then suffocating her with a pillow in 1999 – said the decision to switch off her brother's ventilator was a totally different experience.

"It's not like a euthanasia situation at all," she said.

"His injuries were unsurvivable and without the ventilator he would not have been breathing. He had horrific head injuries."

Ms Martin wrote a book about her decision to help end her mother's suffering, entitled To Die Like A Dog, and it was the publication of the book that led to her arrest and conviction.

The crash happened on April 28 and the tanker driver – Edwin Charles Samuelson, 56, of Te Kuiti – died at the scene.

Ms Martin, who now lives in Taranaki, and her family were contacted in the middle of the night and made a dash for Waikato Hospital.

"It was good, because we all got there and we all had a chance to say goodbye to him properly and one by one. The staff at the hospital were wonderful and gave us time to make the decision properly."

Ms Martin, her son, her sister and her family and Mr Martin's partner, former wife and children were all at the hospital to decide whether to keep him on a ventilator.

"It was devastating. It is an impossible decision to make, but the ventilator was turned off at 6pm on the Saturday (April 30). He died at 10.15 that night."

Yesterday Ms Martin went to the spot where her brother crashed to lay a wreath in his memory.

He had been a police officer for 19 years before quitting to drive trucks for a living. He drove big rigs in the United States before returning to Wanganui.

Ms Martin said police were still investigating the crash.

"I would also like to tell the family of the other driver how much we feel for them. We are all devastated and upset for them. Whatever the cause of the accident, it claimed the lives of two men."


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: euthanasia; karma; murder; slipperyslope
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Die Like A Dog

1 posted on 05/13/2005 5:24:11 PM PDT by BykrBayb
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To: BykrBayb
So just what judge allowed this woman to once again assume a position of dominance over a family member?

This ol'gal should still be in the slammer!

2 posted on 05/13/2005 5:27:30 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: BykrBayb

You know, when you think about it the victims are not volunteering to pull the plug. It is their families or judges, etc.


3 posted on 05/13/2005 5:28:46 PM PDT by freekitty
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To: BykrBayb

Is this New Zealand?

Is this a joke?

Sorry for the brother and mother, sorry for the family. Assuming this is all true, of course.


4 posted on 05/13/2005 5:29:02 PM PDT by jocon307 (Irish grandmother rolls in grave, yet again.)
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To: muawiyah

That's something I was wondering.

Euthanasia seems to be addictive.


5 posted on 05/13/2005 5:29:26 PM PDT by BykrBayb (Impeach Judge Greer - In memory of Terri Schindler <strike>Schiavo</strike> - www.terrisfight.org)
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To: jocon307

Yep, New Zealand. Euthanasia is running rampant there.


6 posted on 05/13/2005 5:30:37 PM PDT by BykrBayb (Impeach Judge Greer - In memory of Terri Schindler <strike>Schiavo</strike> - www.terrisfight.org)
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To: freekitty

Exactly.


7 posted on 05/13/2005 5:31:18 PM PDT by BykrBayb (Impeach Judge Greer - In memory of Terri Schindler <strike>Schiavo</strike> - www.terrisfight.org)
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To: freekitty

Euthanasia advocates are not pushing for our right to fill out an advance directive, or to have that advance directive honored. We already have that right. Their problem is that most of us don't want to be euthanized. So now they're pushing for forced euthanasia. One of their favorite arguments lately is money. Obviously, that has nothing to do with the patient's choice.


8 posted on 05/13/2005 5:35:36 PM PDT by BykrBayb (Impeach Judge Greer - In memory of Terri Schindler <strike>Schiavo</strike> - www.terrisfight.org)
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To: BykrBayb

"Euthanasia is running rampant there."

Small countries seem to go for it.


9 posted on 05/13/2005 5:37:14 PM PDT by jocon307 (Irish grandmother rolls in grave, yet again.)
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To: BykrBayb

Like abortion, euthanasia seems to weed out the gene pool in a non-self-perpetuating way.


10 posted on 05/13/2005 5:38:08 PM PDT by thoughtomator ("One cannot say that a law is right simply because it is a law.")
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To: jocon307

Maybe we should set the WPPFF up on their own little island/country.


11 posted on 05/13/2005 5:39:03 PM PDT by BykrBayb (Impeach Judge Greer - In memory of Terri Schindler <strike>Schiavo</strike> - www.terrisfight.org)
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To: muawiyah

Unless you've ever been in either of the situations Ms. Martin found herself in, you have no right to say what you're saying about her.


12 posted on 05/13/2005 5:39:42 PM PDT by Hildy ( The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue)
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To: BykrBayb
Ms Martin, her son, her sister and her family and Mr Martin's partner, former wife and children were all at the hospital to decide whether to keep him on a ventilator.

They live messy and die messy.

13 posted on 05/13/2005 5:40:26 PM PDT by madprof98
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To: Hildy

I've never committed murder, but I have no problem stating that murderers should be in prison. I don't have to commit murder to know that.


14 posted on 05/13/2005 5:42:17 PM PDT by BykrBayb (Impeach Judge Greer - In memory of Terri Schindler <strike>Schiavo</strike> - www.terrisfight.org)
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To: BykrBayb

"WPPFF"

I'm sorry, could you translate that?


15 posted on 05/13/2005 5:42:42 PM PDT by jocon307 (Irish grandmother rolls in grave, yet again.)
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To: jocon307

Wicked People Pulling Feeding Facilities
Warped Peons Practicing Food Fights

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/1373116/posts


16 posted on 05/13/2005 5:45:22 PM PDT by BykrBayb (Impeach Judge Greer - In memory of Terri Schindler <strike>Schiavo</strike> - www.terrisfight.org)
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To: BykrBayb

If my Father was in horrible pain and he asked me to help him...I'd be a murderer too. Now, that being said, I'm not getting into it with you again. I think we know from history that we're just not friendly adversaries. Say your peace, and then we're done.


17 posted on 05/13/2005 5:45:25 PM PDT by Hildy ( The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue)
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To: shaggy eel

You see this in today's Dominion Post?


18 posted on 05/13/2005 5:45:40 PM PDT by Brian Allen (I fly and can therefore be envious of no man -- Per Ardua ad Astra!)
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To: jocon307

Basically, it's a sub-group of Freepers who came out vocally against the right of disabled people to live.


19 posted on 05/13/2005 5:46:31 PM PDT by BykrBayb (Impeach Judge Greer - In memory of Terri Schindler <strike>Schiavo</strike> - www.terrisfight.org)
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To: Hildy
Look, I've never murdered anyone nor have I commited murder. I am not thereby estopped by condition or estate from commenting on the practice.

Your statement is simply not logical. Unfortunately it tags you as someone who is probably very dangerous to society in general, and your loved ones in particular. They have places where you can check in for a long stay.

20 posted on 05/13/2005 5:46:37 PM PDT by muawiyah
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