Tony Nicklinson, a UK man who suffered a stroke in 2005 that left him paralyzed from the neck down and subsequently attained “locked-in” syndrome, made national headline news for the last few weeks after requesting the High Court to allow doctors to end his life, passed away.
Locked-in syndrome is a condition in which a patient is aware and awake but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for the eyes.
“He had argued in court that he would be physically unable to administer a lethal drug to himself, and that his only path to release from his “living nightmare” would be permission from the court to have somebody else — in his suggestion, a doctor — administer the necessary dose without fear of prosecution.”
“Mr. Nicklinson’s anguished appeals to be allowed to seek assistance in ending his life culminated with a heart-wrenching scene, captured in a video posted on the BBC Web site, after the court decision last week.”
The article goes on to say that he died peacefully of “natural causes” but unfortunately that was not the case. Mr. Nicklison, passed away from starvation. After the court ruling he refused to eat, as it was his only way to stop his own suffering… naturally.
Such a heart breaking story and yet very controversial as well. We can’t even fathom the amount of suffering this man endured trapped in his own body. Our hearts go out to his family.
Read the full nytimes.com article HERE
(image source = nytimes.com)
