Pause for thought on the assisted suicide debate...
He told how, at one particular deathbed, he was very very glad that the option of assisted suicide had not been available to one of his flock. Because in the last few days, and just when the family had thought there would be no change, no breakthrough in demeanour, the patient sought reconciliation with his daughters. Daughters he had refused to speak to for many years. Had assisted suicide been an option, he said, there's no doubt that this patient would have wanted to end his life days, if not a couple of weeks earlier.
Perhaps there was indeed extended suffering - which is dreadful - but finally there was a moment of happiness which no-one, least of all the patient himself, had expected and it made a huge difference to what might otherwise have been an empty death.
Makes you think, doesn't it?
Hi! I’m Anne Diamond and on weekday mornings you can find me on BBC Radio Berkshire (10 - 1). Even if you don’t live in and around Berkshire, and you know me from my TV and writing, you can always read what I’m doing here or listen online. Welcome! 
Comment number 1.
At 16:15 12th Mar 2012, Dudley Lusted wrote:Hi Anne
I believe the need for assisted dying is so overwhelming that you shouldn't be put off by one unusual situation. There are so many people suffering needlessly, and they should surely be of greatest concern. if a surgeon says an operation has a 5% chance that the patient will die is that any reason not to go ahead? Don't be fooled by the do gooders I don't want to die a miserable death and neither do any of my friends. Use your influence to get politicians to debate the subject and make sure they have professional research from the British public to inform them
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