tony nicklinson - 'locked-in syndrome'

cm1179 · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:27

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17336774

i read about this man's story in the paper today and was saddened by it but i have just seen a feature on him on the news and it's incredibly unfortuanate.

i can only imagine the horror his and his families lives have now become.

what would you want to happen in this situation. he says he lost his dignity but he still obviously has high level emotions as he actually started crying during the interview.

i'd really struggle if i saw a family member the way he is and as he obviously wants to die, i think i'd be reaching for the pillow as the consequences couldn't be any worse than their suffering.

RomanNose · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:31

I can't believe that the politicians have the audacity to complain about this case, they have been sitting on their arses for years not doing anything about this.
If these overpaid twits had one ounce of empathy, they would pass a bill through as quickly as possible, or at least a temporary bill to let this man have a peaceful death.

spudbynight · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:31

People have a right to life - nobody has a right to death.

Mr_White · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:33

spudbynight said:
People have a right to life - nobody has a right to death.

lolwut

RomanNose · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:33

spudbynight said:
People have a right to life - nobody has a right to death.

What a stupid argument.
Go and say that to this guy, who is going to put up with a terrible life.
Choice is a fundamental human right as well. And this isn't even life, it's just suffering.

cm1179 · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:33

spudbynight said:
People have a right to life - nobody has a right to death.

but he hasn't got a life, he's got an existence and he is never going to recover, will only get worse and increase the burden.

this is not what he wants and he is powerless to do anything about it.

i can totally see why he doesn't want to exist anymore, i wouldn't either.

spudbynight · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:34

RomanNose said:
What a stupid argument.
Go and say that to this guy, who is going to put up with a terrible life.
Choice is a fundamental human right as well. And this isn't even life, it's just suffering.

Hard cases make bad laws.

You can't legislate on individual cases no matter how tragic they are.

Woden · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:35

spudbynight said:
People have a right to life - nobody has a right to death.

Odd, 10 people in every 1000 in the UK die every year? Has no-one told these people?

spudbynight · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:35

Mr_White said:
lolwut

Thanks for your input, it really makes me think.

starfighter · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:35

Being alive even if it is horrible is still better than being dead.

spudbynight · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:35

Woden said:
Odd, 10 people in every 1000 in the UK die every year? Has no-one told these people?

Way to completely miss my point.

RomanNose · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:36

spudbynight said:
Hard cases make bad laws.

You can't legislate on individual cases no matter how tragic they are.

Umm you can legislate on some cases. Like they have done in the netherlands.
Their two premises are
* You have to be able to make the decision yourself
* There is no hope of your condition improving and you are living a horrible terrible life.

starfighter said:
Being alive even if it is horrible is still better than being dead.

No it's not, death is nothingness. Far better than pain.

The Halk · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:36

spudbynight said:
People have a right to life - nobody has a right to death.

That's disgusting cruelty, I suspect it's no doubt fuelled by some kind of religious nonsense. Foul and evil.

Morbius · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:36

starfighter said:
Being alive even if it is horrible is still better than being dead.

That should be for the individual to decide, not anyone else.

Mr_White · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:36

spudbynight said:
Thanks for your input, it really makes me think.

It's about all the input your drivel warrants.

Work on that latter point though, it might serve you well.

spudbynight · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:37

The Halk said:
That's disgusting cruelty, I suspect it's no doubt fuelled by some kind of religious nonsense. Foul and evil.

That post is full of bigotry and hatred. I really expected better from you.

spudbynight · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:37

Mr_White said:
It's about all the input your drivel warrants.

Work on that latter point though, it might serve you well.

Are you 12 or just trolling?

RomanNose · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:38

It wouldn't so why the heck are they taking so long?

spudbynight · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:38

Moses said:
Of course not, but you could create a high threshold for the test which allows it...

Eg. Require strong medical evidence that there's no hope/there's a really bad quality of life/etc.

It wouldn't be particularly hard to create a law which allowed for euthanasia for people with terrible, terrible conditions.

However some of us believe that killing is wrong and can't be justified in any situation. I can't condone suicide no matter how much someone wants to end their own life.

Collider · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:38

There was a powerful film on channel 4 this evening in the Dispatches series about Tony Nicklinson and his case and its well worth watching when it comes onto 4OD.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/articles/home

It was a well balanced film where a number of people, pro and anti euthanasia, came to talk to him in his home and it also had interviews with him, his wife and his daughters.

Just a really sad case and tomorrow he will find out if he can have the right to die at the hand of another person (as the issue here is really that he cannot kill himself). It opens up a world of debate on the right to die and in some respects I could understand the fear of some of the people about this sort of change in the law as, as they were disabled, they worried someone would decide they should not live and kill them and basically we'd descend into a Nazi state.

I tend to take a less extreme and probably more British view more based on how we administrate than on peoples intent..knowing the endless bureaucracy that would result if this law change was a success I actually think it would be hard to abuse it to kill someone who did not want to go.

I hope he gets the law change and so has the option to end his life if he chooses to..as his daughter put it in the film he might not want to use it straight away, he just wants to be free not to have to starve himself to death (which is his only truly appalling option to end a life he does not wish to tolerate).