Posted on 01/18/2009 9:16:06 AM PST by wagglebee
Sophie Pandit breaks into a smile as she recalls a nervous meeting with Julie Walters last summer. The actress plays Sophies mother in a new film and they met after Sophie was invited on set during rehearsals. Dont worry, I wont do your mum with a Brummie accent, Julie had said mischievously, by way of an ice-breaker.
Sophie knew her mother would have approved. Throughout her life, Anne Turner was known for unleashing her wicked sense of humour to diffuse tension in difficult situations. This never stopped, even in the hours before her death.
Last summer, Sophie, 44, herself an actress, her brother Edward, 42, and sister Jessica, 40, were approached by the BBC, who wanted to make a film about their mothers extraordinary final years of life.
Three years ago next Saturday, Anne Turner, a 66-year-old retired doctor from Bath, made the journey to the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic in Zurich to take her own life after being diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy a rare, incurable degenerative condition similar to Parkinsons that gradually destroys nerve cells in the parts of the brain controlling eye movements, breathing and muscle co-ordination, eventually leading to paralysis, making the sufferer totally reliant on others.
This was a future Mum refused to accept and on the day she was diagnosed, she told me of her intention to commit suicide, says Sophie.
We were horrified and deeply upset but as a doctor, Mum was under no illusions about the outcome of her illness. She was a fiercely independent woman and she could not face losing that independence or being physically reliant on others.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The truth remains the truth no matter what you happen to think about it.
Everyone in Illinois is a Nazi. Sounds ignorant huh?
Seriously, your statement is evidence of a mental deficiency.
I find that comparison to be offensive, frankly.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Ro. 8:18
Do you not know that [...] you are not your own? For you were bought at a price 1 Cor 6:19-19
Yes, she did have a choice. I look at it like this...with every bit of suffering that comes our way, we've got two ways to go. You can play into the hands of Satan and become hateful, full of self-pity and bitter in your suffering (i.e. false martyr) which leads to the suicide mentality, or you can grow holy and Christ-like. Nothing that is worthwhile comes easy which makes much more sense when, for example, we our bringing up our children or advancing in our career. But when it comes to our souls, we somehow figure we'll take care of it when the time comes, as if we'll be able to make a deal with Saint Peter at Heaven's gate. Who are we fooling?
More than anyone, Jesus showed us from the Agony in the Garden until his Death, that we can suffer and still be united to God's Will.
God Bless.
She was a doctor. Her decision makes her a hippocrat (tee hee)
Don’t take offense, none was intended... I just don’t see why someone should suffer at the end if he doesn’t want to.
For those who do not believe in much beyond this world, suicide is a viable option. It is a materialistic response.
A few years ago, my father passed away after suffering horribly from untreatable cancer. I grieved horribly, but I know that he is now with his Creator. Had he taken his own life like these people, I would not be thinking of him quite so positively. Suicide is a grave error. It is shocking and tragic to most people except those who are so far gone, they they can no longer understand.
If Mum was an MD wonder why Mum didn’t mix up her own potion and just stay home to take it.
It seems strange she’d fly all the way to Switzerland to die in agony, even short lived.
I think the Hemlock Society has ingredients listed.
No. It’s full blown “Reductio ad Hitlerum”
Life is once and no matter what happens there can be joy among suffering.Prove it.
Those of us who have a faith in God believe life is a gift.God refused to heal that woman.
I had always been prejudiced against hospice because of Terry Schaivo....but after learning the philosophies, I find it is the most caring solution to the end-of-life process.
I've been in hospice for a little over a year and a half...and the concept we use is comfort care. Most of our patients are pretty viable and able to care for themselves or with a little assistance ...up until a couple weeks before death. (sometimes just a few hours)
We make sure that the process is as painless and comfortable as possible....giving the patient and their families time to say good-bye and resolve sometimes life-long disputes/problems. To end life unnaturally by suicide.... robs everyone IMHO.
The most remarkable phenomenon I witness on a daily basis.....is that some of the most selfish, self-centered and hardened family members become humble and caring towards someone other than themselves....given that time to reflect on a huge dose of reality. It changes their perspective about what is truly important.....which is always a good thing. :)
If this woman was an MD, p.o'd about how she might get too sick to travel to another country to be assisted in committing suicide, why didn't she just write herself a number of prescriptions for the barbituates she consumed, and kill herself? The children say she attempted a botched suicide prior to going. An MD who didn't know how to do away with herself?Very good point. an MD should have been able to procure the drugs necessary to kill herself.
But when it comes to our souls, we somehow figure we'll take care of it when the time comes, as if we'll be able to make a deal with Saint Peter at Heaven's gate. Who are we fooling?What does suffering from a debilitative illness accomplish, exactly?
Seems like a hard death.
Paralyzed with no movement or means to communicate is terrifying.....like Awakenings or Johnny Got His Gun....
I've been primary care coordinator over the deaths of both my parents....dad from cerebral megaglioma and my mom from colon cancer that went everywhere
they died as well as can be expected but it's still tough stuff....even under the best circumstances..to leave someone conscious yet incapacitated and maybe in a panic raises questions for me
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Ro. 8:18Sounds like a good argument for suicide. If the next life is so good, why stay alive in this life?
very few turn down the Sister M.
and it’s no big secret that ever increasing morphine doses contribute to dimished breathing cycles in those final days-hours.
turn that pump up a lot, use atropine drops to soothe that terrible death rattle struggle or move them at all and they will die somewhat quicker in those final hours...
it’s just how it is....
but if they’ve defecated all over the bed what are you gonna do?
make them lie in watery feces whilst they await God’s wings?
this is really hard stuff and I think some folks here just don’t have much experience with it
This from the person who is so indoctrinated by the culture of death that you even believe that people should kill themselves to save their family money.
lol....quite a cynic eh?
young too I’m guessing
your first foxhole might help
i get where you’re coming from but there had better be more than this....that belief held by many is all that keeps us from the abysss.
You conveniently forgot the second verse: Do you not know that [...] you are not your own? For you were bought at a price 1 Cor 6:19-19
We are not our own, we do not own our lives. You may take something back to the store and get your money back, but how would you dream of refunding the price paid for your life, the blood of Christ?
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