Letters: Readers offer personal stories in response to Polly Toynbee’s article on assisted dying
Readers offer personal stories in response to Polly Toynbee’s article on assisted dying
My wife was self-aware and strong-willed. Her take was that she could not influence the disease and its progress, but she could control the remainder of her life, including the manner of her inevitable death, and so she contacted Dignitas to arrange an assisted suicide. We continued to live our lives as we always had until her condition began to deteriorate, and then, having fixed a date with Dignitas, my wife cleared the decks. She sorted her jewellery, each piece bagged with a message of love to be posted to her friends and relatives after her departure. Her clothes she carefully folded and bagged, and I delivered them to charity shops. Everything was put in proper order.
My bright, active, 78-year-old husband was struck down by chronic spinal stenosis, and within two months he found the pain quite unbearable. He was prescribed increasingly strong painkillers, which dulled the pain just a little but also dulled his beautiful, bright mind. This highly intelligent man had no life; he could no longer read, watch television or carry out the simplest of tasks.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Readers reply: why is frost so beautiful?The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts
Read more »
Dear future self: you’re never too old for love – or love letters | Elly VarrentiFalling in love is a necessary and divine sort of a fiction. And I have the letters to prove it
Read more »
Why we need to see fat actors as objects of romantic desire in mainstream films | LettersLetter: It’s hard to stomach the feeling that the world sees my husband as some pervert for finding me attractive, says one reader
Read more »
OMG! It’s Jane Austen... the TikTok generation embraces new heroineTwo hundred years on, Austen’s take on the pressures of friendship and love is winning over young readers
Read more »
‘I have sad thoughts every day. I try not to be overcome by them’: Michael Rosen on coping with the death of his sonHe is much loved for his daffy humour, but poet Michael Rosen’s new memoir, Getting Better, is an arrestingly honest account of devastating loss. He talks to Alex Moshakis about feeling sad, and why he’s no longer ‘carrying an elephant’Read an extract here
Read more »
Bring your birthday cake to work – it’s a crumb of comfort | Eva WisemanWork is changing fast, but one sure way to hold on to the old ways is to offer round a slice of cake and a cup of tea, says Eva Wiseman
Read more »