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56 Comments
- makhyan, on 11/04/2009, -0/+44This is SAD :( but from the other side I agree with Mr Milner. You own yourself, no government or anybody can dictate you to live or not.
- unknownpoltroon, on 11/04/2009, -1/+40Good for them. Seriously. Its sad they had to go, but they had their reasons, and picked their time. What more could someone ask for at that point in life? Immortality and perpetual youth still aren't an option.
- soulonfire928, on 11/04/2009, -1/+31It's sad that making personal decisions about your own life like this is not allowed. I understand that this will have an effect on others, sure...but this isn't like your 20 something year old who could have a full life ahead of them committing suicide. Truth is, people like the Milners aren't going to live significantly longer, and wanting to end things on their own terms while they have that choice, as long as its discussed with the family, should be an option.
I don't necessarily blame them - I don't want to end up shoved off into a nursing home, unable to feed myself, use the bathroom on my own, dress myself, etc., either. Who would? I don't know their health status and if things had already started deteriorating, so maybe this was the right call for them. Family supports them and it's what they wanted, seems like a fair decision to me. - ifruit, on 11/04/2009, -3/+17A victimless crime, it should be legal.
- hauntedchippy, on 11/04/2009, -0/+10Everyone should have the right to face death on their own terms.
- ohreilly, on 11/04/2009, -1/+11Keywords: ASSISTED suicide.
It is legal to take your own life (it used to be illegal - prosecuted if you failed and got caught) but not to help someone take theirs. - hamishmacdonald, on 11/04/2009, -0/+9I think the issue is that it's difficult to reliably kill yourself. In the UK, many people take excess amounts of paracetamol, and I've been told by a procurator fiscal (like a US district attorney, often called in to suspicious death scenes) that these attempts often fail, leaving the person alive but in a horrible state.
It's a tough call, and these decisions need to be guided by an established system of ethics. If a person is terminally ill, that's one matter. If they're suicidally depressed, their judgment is not a good basis for such a decision. I love the life I have today, but wouldn't be here if I'd had my way about 15 years ago. Today-me judges then-me as being woefully mistaken. - emkaysmith, on 11/04/2009, -1/+9I just turned 65, and I reckon I've got another 20 years in me. But if I contract inoperable cancer, or there's some similar reason for packing it in in the next couple of decades, I completely reject *anyone's* "right" to tell me I can't resign from life. Struggling to survive when you're 25 is one thing. Insisting somebody in a retirement home (or wherever) squeeze out another 18 months, just because *you* feel queasy about suicide, is arrogant and obscene.
Like several other posters here, I've watched a few elderly relatives waste away into physical and mental helplessness, and it's a pretty horrifying process. Actually, having led a "life of the mind" for six decades, what scares me is the always present possibility of Alzheimer's. I probably could deal with being chair- or bed-bound, as long as my brain functions. If that goes, I see no point in continuing. I have no interest in vegetablehood. - evilresident, on 11/04/2009, -1/+7sorry, who owes society anything?!?!?
They're in their 80s. Sure, you're obviously a kid - and unable to realize this, but you know what? Life ends.
It ends.
Around 60 or so, your body starts or has already started to get really tired - and having a hard time keeping us as is.
Add 20 more years to that.
80 years is a decent chunk of being alive. who the ***** are you to tell anyone else otherwise??? - MrZaiko, on 11/04/2009, -2/+9Couldn't they wait to suicide AFTER Christmas? Like in January...
- ManUnitdFan, on 11/04/2009, -0/+6Irony - n. - an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.
This is the opposite of irony. - JinxCrow, on 11/04/2009, -1/+7If you can't do what you want to, if you can't enjoy your life - what's the point? My grandmother has decided there is no point in being a veggie or a helpless, dementia ridden shadow of a former self. Luckily she's still traveling, tap dancing, painting and can finish a NY crossword puzzle in a day at 72, but she says if she loses her ability to do all that, it's goodbye. I support that, I'd rather have her make her own decision then limp on later due to other people's issues with death.
- ManUnitdFan, on 11/04/2009, -1/+5I'd call you a selfish douche bag, but I'm not sure exactly what you gain by forcing an 80 year old couple to stay alive while they waste away into nothing. If people want to end their lives while they still have some quality of life left, what the hell is wrong with that?
- xombi242, on 11/04/2009, -2/+5Kind of like what you're doing now?
- borez, on 11/04/2009, -0/+3Yes, I know. Read the title wrong, my bad.
- messiah, on 11/04/2009, -1/+4AnotherIP, I hope you have a long and painful old age, dribbling and ***** yourself and not being able to do anything about it. I hope this happens to you because you are obviously a douchebag who cant see past the testicles dangling over your nose.
I have had to watch a few relatives wasting away to nothing , not being able to help themselves and having to rely on a failing medical system. When your sitting next to someone you love in hospital and watch them spend 10 minutes scrawling something on a peice of paper, only to find out it reads "Let me Die" then you will realise that killing yourself before you get that bad may not be such a horrible idea. Wake up to yourself and think about reality. - andyp7, on 11/04/2009, -1/+3Your argument is pretty pathetic considering they were 80 and 81 years old. Maybe in 100 years 81 won't be considered old, but right now it is and that is because when people get to that age they are approaching the end of their lives, everything is deteriorating.
It's not like at 80 you will feel like you do at 30, they probably felt pretty ***** and could see it was the beginning of the end. If I reach 81 I expect to have lived by life by then and done what I want to do, if all I saw ahead of me was the slippery slope of my health until I became debilitated then I'd want to check out too.
They should make assisted suicide legal in this country, at the moment it is extremely difficult for someone to end their own life in a peaceful manner (I'm talking about the UK here). The problem is two fold: 1.) There are a lot of depressed people who are in a poor state of mind that would later regret commuting suicide, and the only reason they don't suicide when they are depressed is because it isn't painless and easy. 2.) The religious groups apply tremendous pressure against any right to die legislation because it contradicts with their nonsense beliefs. - abraxsis, on 11/04/2009, -1/+3Perhaps you should reread my comment, and comprehend it, before calling it pathetic. I basically said everything you said in not so many words. I even said I agreed that in old age it should be legal. But just because they were 80 doesn't mean life is horrible. Sure, you cant get out and run a marathon, but thats no reason to kill yourself. As for the rest, I simply stated that this kind of thinking can be a slippery slope. Which isnt an argument, it is just a point of fact. How young is too young? 18? 21? 15? 12? How is it that an 80 year old has a "right" to kill themselves but an 18 year should not?
Given your response I take it that you endorse suicide in healthy 20 somethings just because something horrible might happen or depression? - abraxsis, on 11/04/2009, -0/+2The last question wasn't based in hypocrisy. It was a sincere question. You did not take a stance you simply pointed out a fly in the ointment of legalization. In fact, you pointed out the primary reason that there IS a slippery slope to worry about.
You say that elderly people have the right to end their life if there is no end to their suffering or they foresee a deteriorated quality of life. My argument of a slippery slope is how can you legalize it for one group of adults and not another? This isn't driving, smoking, or drinking we are talking about. This is a wholly internal decision. Further, how can we argue that a depressed person is just temporarily impaired when we still don't have solid criteria on how to scientifically diagnose a depressive state? These people will FIGHT to commit suicide currently, how much more active will they be if there are legal (painless) measures being implemented ... just not for their age group/mental status. How do we dictate long term mental state in the absence of quantifiable medical proof to their suffering? This is why I am personally against legalizing suicide for strictly "What If?" situations like the people from the article. Even Dignitas doesn't assist people with suicide for reasons such as, "Well, we might be in a bad place in another decade lets roll with the nembutal"
While there may not be a slippery slope in the realm of morality/ethics, within the terms of legal equality there are some significant hurdles in the way. - andyp7, on 11/04/2009, -0/+2I will agree that pathetic was over the top. Allow me to rephrase: The suggestion that this sort of thinking leads itself onto a slippery slope of not knowing where to drawn the line in terms of what age is too young is extremely far fetched.
As I explained, the reason 80 is considered old today is because by that time the majority of people have degenerated quite significantly compared to when they were say 30. Perhaps in 100 years, being 80 will be like being 60 today.
Your insult isn't appreciated and I won't get into a bitching match with you but I will point out your hypocrisy with a reply to your last sentence: I clearly stated that one of the main issues with legalising assisted suicide is the fact that depressed people would be at risk of ending their lives this way, something they would most likely not do if their judgment wasn't clouded by a temporary disease (in most cases). - artfiend77, on 11/04/2009, -0/+2Your trolling skills are subpar, even by Digg standards.
- mywhitenoise, on 11/04/2009, -0/+2Chritsmas is practically 2 months away...I think it would be worse if they waited a week after Christmas.
- sdphost, on 11/04/2009, -0/+2If you want to die you want to die, its not like Santa Claus is going to come and make your life better.
- Nitrodist88, on 11/04/2009, -0/+2Wow, you guys are jerks.
- veriix, on 11/04/2009, -1/+2I don't know why people are digging you down. Idiots I assume. Why would they kill themselves if they felt good? Why would they want to live forever if every day would be torture?
- andyb747, on 11/04/2009, -0/+1For ***** sake..you are just barely over the legal age to drive!...what can you possibly know about wanting to die because of old age or anything else about life for that matter.
- abraxsis, on 11/04/2009, -1/+2They must have been following the American Terrorist Protocol, there "might" be terrorist in X country so lets over run it with extreme prejudice. Just in case ,,,
Granted I agree that if someone wants to end their lives in old age it should be fully endorsed and legal everywhere. However, I simply can't agree with offing oneself just because things MIGHT get bad. Cancer, sharp chronic pain, etc etc ... sure, an overdose is an option. But I can't help but think there is more to this than meets the eye. Perhaps an unhealthy co-dependent relationship where one is suicidal.
I just can't help but see where the possible implications of such things lead. Where is a "cut off" point? Im 30, I might have an accident and be a quadriplegic next year, so maybe I should overdose on morphine? Where does it stop when the reasons are based on "what if?" - nepidae, on 11/04/2009, -0/+1Why would they put themselves through the hell that is christmas music everywhere?
- evilresident, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1Sorry, no matter how fit you are, you eventually get very very tired. :)
- MarkOfTheDead, on 11/04/2009, -0/+1I dunno but c02 is the most painless (running the car in the garage) you go to sleep and don't wake up.
- ylp07, on 11/04/2009, -0/+1The next article on BBC was the discovery of a fountain of youth.
- bashnu, on 11/04/2009, -1/+2It is beautiful that they died together.
- T3hJ3hu, on 11/04/2009, -0/+1Does anyone know how they killed themselves? I'm curious as to how they put themselves out with as little pain as possible.
...ya know, for reference in sixty-some years. - ultraJesus, on 11/04/2009, -0/+1Yah, but if you do it wrong or get rescued halfway through you just get brain damage.
By the way you want carbon monoxide, though breathing only carbon dioxide would kill you as well I guess. - emkaysmith, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1Children, children, . . . now behave yourselves or go to your rooms.
And no, I probably wouldn't commit suicide merely to keep my wife company. But I would certainly assist her if she wanted to leave and could no longer manage it. (There are ways, and it happens not infrequently.) And she would do the same for me. Each of us is an individual, each of us makes our own decisions. - ikildsatan, on 11/04/2009, -3/+3It's about more than just pain. Old age also brings debilitating mental crippledness (it's a medical term; look it up) and SOME OF these people in care homes, like my late grandfather, are essentially completely *****. They cannot do anything for themselves and, in the case of my grandfather are ***** crazy and don't even know what is going on. There is nothing shameful about wanting to die during old age. You, sir, are an ignorant *****. I hope you become horrifyingly mentally crippledtated.
- ToxicTexan, on 11/04/2009, -1/+1The title made me think of "Long cat is Looooooooong"
- xombi242, on 11/04/2009, -1/+1wtf?
- MrARPA, on 11/04/2009, -1/+1We may see more sad cases in the UK, but this time of the terminally ill, in the future. The Swiss government has plans to clamp down on Dignitas ...
- citizensARREST, on 11/04/2009, -5/+5the law didn't really get in their way though, did it? I dunno why they bothered... it's not like they're gonna get in trouble from the man
- cosmos411, on 11/04/2009, -1/+1What are you 10 years old? Your argument is childish and irrelevant at best. Idiot
- andyb747, on 11/04/2009, -1/+1at least your childish name calling comment is relevant...
..if you are trying to demonstrate that you are a retard incapable of writing something intelligent. - MrZaiko, on 11/04/2009, -1/+1I meant that its easier for the family to cope with the loss after a holiday like Christmas by having a last goodbye in a family reunion for example. It will be one sad Christmas for them.
- barderer, on 11/04/2009, -0/+0I don't understand why they didn't wait until their health deteriorated. Apparently they were both still healthy. After a whole life of learning I would want to ride it out as long as I could think and move my hands. But if they wanted to do it...thats fine. Mortality sucks.
- MarkOfTheDead, on 11/04/2009, -2/+1If there's no victim, there's no crime.
- andyb747, on 11/04/2009, -2/+1It's not suicide if its assisted.
- dwalker, on 11/04/2009, -3/+2There WILL come a time when there are just too many old people and not enough carers (if you can call some of them that).
This will certainly be my choice. - andyb747, on 11/04/2009, -4/+2you and your family should feel like ***** for turning your back on your grandfather when he needed you most. Pretty sad and pathetic.
- ikildsatan, on 11/04/2009, -2/+0My father was with him the entire last 24 hours of his life, he felt his last breath. 8 of his 9 children moved to the town he lived in to be with him, they did everything they could to show him love. You are a ***** prick.
I'm sorry people for using digg as an argument ground but I had to retort this dude. - andyb747, on 11/04/2009, -3/+1What about if your wife was "wasting away" as you put it... and she wanted to end her life and also for you to end yours with her. Would you do it or would you want to stick around a little longer? Considering as you say "I reckon I've got another 20 years in me"
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