Wendy Duffy heart breaking but understandable

[youalright]

What a brave lady i hope she's holding her son right now.

I feel really strongly that each person should have the right to determine if and when their own life ends, obviously outside of circumstances beyond their control; a natural death due to illness, accident or old age.

If someone feels their existence is nothing but pain and torment, dragged out to increase their suffering and benefit no-one, then I don't think it's for anyone else to tell them they must stay alive.

I understand all the concerns and arguments about coersion, especially in the case of the elderly where care expenses and inheritance are issues, and obviously we should be mindful of that. But if an adult decides that living has become intolerable for them, whether for physical or psychological reasons, then as hard as it might be for the people they leave behind, it should be their choice and their choice only. Anyone who feels compelled to end their life is probably going to do it one way or another, so at least let it be a dignified, compassionate and medically managed end.

Why should we force people to live if they really don’t want to?

Really? So given all the assurances surrounding the bill currently going through our Parliament, you'd support the widening of the criteria to include just about anyone who said they didn't want to live any more?

Or they get worse. For some, the tiniest chance of things getting better is enough but not for others.

If people CHOOSE not to take the risk then that’s up to them. Why force someone to endure things if they feel they can’t?

Maybe not in Switzerland but in Belgium the doctor injects you so they do kill you.

Why is it different? Or, why is it different enough not to be relevant, in your mind?

A 24-year-old woman whose only child has died (being stillborn) - how is that so different?

I do. If there is no coercion involved it should be available to anyone

I feel it is a step too far down the line of ‘passing judgement’ to compare methods of suicide in this way. I understand that Wendy Duffy’s declared view of the method she chose was that it would avoid anyone else having to deal with the aftermath of her actual death. I don’t know how I feel about this being handed over to a corporate body either, but feel at least her reasoning in this specific aspect is valid and should be respected as such.

i am so sorry. The same things has happened to a very close relative of mine, two adult children and then one died in an appalling (is there any other way when a young person dies?) and it is only the fact that they have another child that keeps them here.

Agreed

I disagree. If anyone, male or female, over the age of 18, wishes to end their own life, then they should be allowed to do so. It might be considered "very sad" by some, but it really is nobody else's business. Death is not necessarily the worst thing that can happen to a person.
I think public reaction can sometimes be conditioned by growing up in a broadly Christian society (or having an actual faith, of course) but, fundamentally, all adults must absolutely have the right to self-determination.

I think the comments make perfect sense.

There have been times when I didn't want to be here.

I don't agree with this. Why is suicide (assisted or not) suddenly 'brave' and acceptable?? My grandma has lost 3 of her children in her life, yet she is still here with us at aged 87. She could have given up like this and gone off to Switzerland too but she hasn't.

The company kills them. Let's not quibble over technicalities and loopholes. Regardless of who administers the medication, it's provided by the company, for the purpose of killing the person.

And personally, I think normalising depressed and mentally ill people committing suicide, and lauding it as brave and 'the right choice' is not good for society. That's what it has to do with me. Erm...What has it got to do with you?

She -if it’s like Dignitas- will have been given a pre prepared concoction of drugs which she herself takes. She physically administers it.
Stop making it sound like they bludgeoned her with a machete.

People saying it isn’t ‘brave’ have obviously been lucky enough to have never felt suicidal, because it’s an incredibly scary place.

But what has it got to do with you?

No, I'm not conflating things.

I'm saying that suddenly, all society's opinion on suicide and men-being-women has turned topsy-turvy, and then picked the wildest example for 'what's next??' that I could think of!

My point being that, "Hey, isn't suicide bad? When did suicide become a good thing??"

Happy to clear that up.

I hear you ❤️ xx

You think that if a young person or a man decided to kill themselves for whatever reason that people would call it brave and understandable?

Completely agree @Glowingup

I do wonder if Dame Esther Rantzen has commented on Wendy Duffy's situation.

I cannot believe that Dame Esther, nor Rebecca, her daughter, who is championing the cause for assisted dying would necessarily agree that Wendy Duffy, should fall under the remit for which they're advocating.

An assisted dying bill, for our terminally ill, in incredibly, unbearable pain, is a discussion that should be advanced, no doubt.

How do we build such a framework though?

We certainly cannot leave it to our current crop of politicians, across the house, who have time and again, proven, that their interests, not those of the individual UK citizen, are their uppermost concern.

But if she'd taken her own life quietly in her bedroom one day and left a note that said the grief was too much, do you think anyone would have blamed her? Not everyone has the same emotional resilience.

I'm not... What on earth do machetes have to do with it, and more importantly, why would you bludgeon someone with a machete when it has a blade to chop??

I'm just saying they provided her with a medication that would kill her, for the purpose of killing her. Without it, she would not be dead. Ego, they killed her, unless you want to quibble over legal loopholes.

I also take issue at the word brave being used to describe suicide. I find it really objectionable.

Ha ha what? Facts are facts - they matter.

It's got fck all to do with me or you, what this lady chose to do with her life. I on the one hand say live and let live - or die.

You seem to want to control other people into doing exactly what you want them to do - or not to do. Bizarre.

Again who do you think you are?