When I was a kid, I thought that putting people out of their suffering was the humane thing to do. A trip to see a friend in a burn ward changed all that. His teeth were shattered, his ear burned off and 85% of his skin was burned. It was awful. The smell was horrific. Listening to him struggle through the morphine to tell me how incredibly painful the treatment was made me ill. But I stuck around and talked. Luckily for him, his wife and his small children he survived and did very well. That said, going through the process touched everyone around him. I still get a little teary when I remember all the crayon pictures that hung around his bed that were drawn by the kids that were patients in the burn center.
Later, I had a lot of time to think and I realized that there is nothing more human than struggling with pain, and that those thoughts of “putting people out of their misery” was more appropriately an urge to remove them so that I would not feel so uncomfortable.
Comforting those in pain should take precedence. I think most people are scared of dying alone, not in pain.
Great post overall, but in the above, you have hit it right on the humanistic bullseye.
I wouldn't choose either, but I think you are right.
the pull away starts at some point and they sorta drift back and forth with an eye over where they are going and an eye to those still here.
i guess that's not really alone but removed...
it's odd but ask anyone that deals with dying....a detachment begins from worldliness
folks should damn sure they make certain they have pals, a lot of money or family that loves them when dying time comes.....preferably all 3
i can understand folks wishing to escape a horrid death or not wanting to burden family but this lady in this article was showboating...going out in ego
I can't explain it properly, but, having witnessed some suffering and dying of family members, I grew to understand that they became sort of larger than life and their suffering helped others become less self centered and more loving and giving - in other words, better people than they would have been without the suffering/dying loved one. So, our standards for ourselves were raised as you did things you didn't think you were capable of doing.
Death is a part of life and I think our society pretends that it is not the inevitable conclusion of each of our lives - we try to hide it or pretty it up or give ourselves power over it (like the woman in the story) but it all ends up the same way, regardless of how we try to engineer it.