r/interestingasfuck • u/TheMirrorUS • 13h ago
Midwest woman, 64, dies in Sarco suicide pod used for the first time as cops make 'several' arrests
https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/midwest-woman-64-dies-sarco-7119901.8k
u/Cynical_positivity 12h ago
Is there a used market for this product?
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u/Blakeyy 12h ago
anyone need extra warmth this Winter? the bloated ads on this website will keep your phone hot enough to heat an igloo.
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u/I3ill 11h ago
You aren’t lying. I tried reading the article but my phone literally heated up in my hand ahaha
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u/TangoRomeoKilo 6h ago
Congratulations you successfully mined .00000000000000001 bitcoin for some dude in China haha
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u/SirJustin90 11h ago edited 2h ago
Firefox with adblocking, links open inapp with firefox private, deletes everything after each session too.
Edit: (Get firefox focus and make it the default browser, then in app redirects are cleaned every time you're finished.)
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u/ProsodySpeaks 12h ago
Use reader mode!
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u/PilsnerProphet 12h ago
How do you use reader mode from the app?
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u/WrestleswithPastry 9h ago
I hit the aA at the top, then “Reader Mode”.
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u/under_the_wave 5h ago
You wizard. How was I unaware of this. WIZARD I SAY! WIZARD!!! Thank you for this valuable piece of internet browsing knowledge. 🙏
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u/AKA_Wildcard 11h ago
I still use Instapaper and read it there without the ads and crazy formatting
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u/face4theRodeo 11h ago
Pretty fucked up. I was sitting at my parent’s house earlier today, watching my mom slowly die in hospice care and thought back to last new years when I had to put my dog down due to cancer eating his body. The whole point of killing my dog was to allow him to end the pain. But my mom gets to slow walk through the pain of dying while my dad withers away in grief bc of what, somebody else’s views on how death should happen? Pretty fucked up.
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u/JonZ82 11h ago
Lost my dad earlier this year to lung cancer. Took weeks of agony in the end.. wouldn't wish it on anyone.
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u/mremrock 9h ago
I sat with my buddy as he died of throat cancer. Ugly and painful death for a proud man. Hospice was the only part of the process that did what they promised.
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u/m_science 3h ago
As both a Throat cancer survivor and someone who held hands with someone while passed from Throat cancer, thank you for being there for you buddy.
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u/gaylord100 4h ago
My grandpa died of throat cancer, they gave him morphine so I don’t think he remembered anything near the end and I’m grateful for that. He was really scared to die. He didn’t wanna go.
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u/filtersweep 11h ago
Very sorry. Lung cancer is a gruesome way to go.
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u/General_Tso75 10h ago
Yeah. My dad went that way and after months of pain drowned in the fluids built up in his lungs.
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u/Asron87 10h ago
Isn’t this a religious view that was made into law? It’s a bullshit law. It’s also bullshit that you have to be terminal to end your life in the state that allow it. Give people death with dignity god damnit.
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u/DadToOne 10h ago
I told my wife that if I ever get there I will eat my gun.
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u/jzoola 9h ago
I don’t know, seems like an awful, traumatic mess for everyone to deal with but I keep reading about these super deadly opioids that are in my city.
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u/Lewtwin 9h ago
Now you're just using crazy talk...
Also, drug manufacturers want you to be alive so they can continue to charge you for their candy that takes pain away, but not the disease.
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u/DadToOne 10h ago
Losing my dad to lung cancer right now. It absolutely sucks. He would not take an assisted route even if offered it because of religious reasons. It is so hard watching the strongest man I ever knew struggle to walk to the bathroom.
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u/LaPiscinaDeLaMuerte 9h ago
Watched my mom's last week due to colon cancer. Worst part was seeing her 6 months earlier and she was up and around hanging out with my kids. Let people go out the way they want.
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u/Ormild 9h ago
Mom had breast cancer. Was doing my usual rounds of visiting her and she seemed her normal self.
Went back the next day and she was a vegetable. I was pretty young so I had no idea how or why the change was so sudden.
She never came back after that.
Wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
If someone wants to die with dignity, rather than suffer painfully for the rest of their lives, they should be able to.
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u/Theomniponteone 10h ago
I am so sorry. I just went through the same this past February. She was in hospice for about two months. She wanted to be done, she told me that she is ready to be with Jesus. Oh how that pained me. She passed in the middle of the night while I was holding her hand. My father had a heart attack in 09 and was airlifted to the hospital. They had him on life support. The doctors came and spoke with me. They explained how massive the heart attack was, The surgeon said it would be like trying to sew spaghetti noodles into a heart. I then had to make the call to unplug the machines. The doctor said he would stop breathing and slip away. Well he didn't, he lunged with a look of terror on his face. It was only a few seconds that he was awake but it felt like an eternity. At least I was able to tell him I loved him and I was sorry. Be strong, friend.
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u/Equal_Leadership2237 10h ago
I completely agree, this is one thing that I am deeply passionate about. I cared for my mother going through her end of life. My sister helped but we were all she had.
I watched her fade for months in my home, and then was either in agony or unconscious for her last 2 weeks in a nursing home/hospice center.
She was nothing more than an inaudible, shell of a human, who didn’t recognize me for more than a couple seconds at a time, who the only thing she could feel was pain.
Hospice would lose control of her pain she’d be in visible distress (moaning, shaking, etc…) as they couldn’t give her injections, only oral pain meds, which she would drool out half of.
If I wasn’t there to take things to the state head of hospice in the middle of the night, and fight with her and a PA who had the medical power to change her pain management plan (which the hospice nurses on staff can’t go outside of), she would’ve just been left there to suffer until she died.
It’s fucking sick, to the point of feeling it’s evil how we deal with death.
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u/Disco11 11h ago
As a fellow dog owner who's had to hold their pups in their last moment, it's incredibly hard but the price you pay for the joy they bring. It would have been cruel to keep her around , riddled with cancer and constant pain, for any longer..... I don't understand people who are against medically assisted death.
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u/coffee_map_clock 11h ago
I am fully in support of those who want to end their own lives. Who am I to say they cannot?
That said, I do understand the people who are against it or at least skeptical of it given how healthcare systems are organized. The incentive to end someone's life rather than pay for a risky expensive treatment is hard to ignore. In addition, you have tough cases like mental health where someone will want to end their lives. Should we let them if it is clear they are depressed? Maybe after a certain amount of treatment has been tried?
All I'm saying is it isn't a cut and dry issue and I understand those who might have issues with it.
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u/Powerful-Stomach-425 9h ago
Agency over one's very existence is the most fundamental right. Fuck society, I'll make that call, thanks.
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u/Mister_Crowly 7h ago
Absolutely, because it is the right from which all others descend. It's such an obvious basic logical connection that I'm constantly astonished that everyone isn't on board with it. Religious people at least have an excuse: they think all existence belongs to God. Less and less people are truly religious though, and yet everyone keeps acting like you owe it to..... who exactly? Society? Humans in general? Nature? ...to succumb as base chance wills it, not by your own will.
It makes no sense, it goes against practically everything else we've done as a species to drag ourselves up out of existence without agency.
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u/Plant_party 10h ago
The fucked up thing is that medical insurance companies have a vested interest in keeping you alive as long as possible to siphon as much money out of you as possible via providing “health care” to you before death.
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u/Wyldfire2112 9h ago
Actually, the insurance company wants you dead for as little money as possible because they're losing money every time they cover anything on your policy. It's the hospitals that profit from dragging it out.
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u/MediumActuator1280 10h ago
And this is precisely why it's not legal. How on earth would all these pharmaceutical companies make profit from a dead person?
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u/I_Downvoted_Your_Mom 9h ago
On the other side of that coin: it's said that the last few weeks of life as someone is slowly dying are the most expensive. Letting those people die cheaply might also save insurance companies some money.
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u/JcPeeny 9h ago
I can't be certain yet, but I feel like I'd rather not experience those expensive last few weeks.
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u/sheebery 11h ago
The thing is, it doesn’t have to be so complicated on the initial roll-out, it can be constructed so that it is very cut and dry.
E.g. make it available only to end-stage cancer patients who have decided to stop treatment. Then at least some people get to choose.
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u/acrazyguy 10h ago
Not even just cancer. Anything terminal and painful, IMO. 70 years old with ALS and just ready to be done? I think they should have that option
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u/GarlicAncient 10h ago
I think the hypocrisy of how we treat animals vs humans becomes explicitly clear when you use the word "humane". It is expected that we put animals down because not doing it is inhumane but for actual humans we do the opposite. Similarly, American hunters are largely prohibited from using bullets with a caliber smaller than 0.243 inches when hunting deer, a roughly 200 lbs animal, because smaller bullets have a potential to wound and be inhumane while our military prescribes to standard infantry the use 0.224 inch bullets for shooting at actual humans who also weigh roughly 200 lbs.
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10h ago edited 3h ago
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u/VentingSalmon 4h ago edited 4h ago
Same here. She stroked out a couple years prior, lost 75% of her mobility and was confined to a chair. She tried every physical therapy technique enthusiastically, hoping to just get a little more mobility beyond her one good arm. After 2 years she was done with it. So she tried saving up her meds to off herself, but the nurses stopped giving them to her when her blood panels came back clean.
So she just refused to eat or drink. She kept a sponge by her bed to wet her lips for when family came by or called.
She lasted 32 days, and made sure that we all had a chance to say goodbye.
I miss her, and her incredible strength and perseverance.
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u/Ricky_Rollin 10h ago
It’s one of the most selfish things that we do and I can’t understand why you are not allowed to go out the way you want to.
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u/ImNotWitty2019 10h ago
I don't understand it either. Your body your choice. Between you and your doctor.
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u/im__not__real 10h ago
its because humans can afford to pay for that long walk. as long as someone's getting billed, efforts will be made to keep billing them for something. its absolutely fucked, and absolutely predatory.
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u/OldGrizzlyBear 11h ago
I'm sorry to hear about your mom. My mom died of cancer 3 years ago. Let yourself feel your feelings and I so recommend therapy. You're dealing with a lot!
Hospice is at least palliative and focused on quality of life, not extending life, so know that she is getting that, which many people don't because they don't accept that path and try to continue cancer treatment, like my mom. Having seen both my parents go through cancer deaths, I hope access to compassionate life-ending care increases. Anyone who watches their parents go through it will feel the same.
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u/Segfaultimus 10h ago
I feel you. 20 years ago I watched my dad suffer through terminal cancer. It started in his thyroid but metastasized to his lungs. It was a long, slow, pain filled journey just so he could literally drown in his own blood. I thought so much about how itd be more humane if he could just be put to sleep. He deserved better.
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u/hogester79 10h ago
We changed our laws in Australia to be able to treat humans with dignity, like the respect for life you provided so you dog didn’t have to suffer, because we believe that people shouldn’t have to suffer at the end of life cause of some dude in a book said it was bad.
We have assisted euthanasia laws that requires due process (two separate doctors need to agree that you can’t be cured and in insufferable pain) and then all of a sudden you have the choice if you want to keep going or not.
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u/Lola_Montez88 5h ago
Several states in the US also have this, including Oregon where I live. But as noted by others it is far from perfect.
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u/BTSherman 10h ago edited 10h ago
its stupid because drugging up your loved one in so much morphine is practically the same fucking thing. and hospice people are very very liberal about applying that shit.
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u/iammabdaddy 10h ago
I say thankfully this is sometimes the best answer under our laws. I've seen people in so much pain in the end that changing their diaper was intolerable. I say let them continue to be liberal with the morphine when needed.
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u/rambutanjuice 10h ago
When my grandfather was on his deathbed, the hospice people set a big bottle of oral morphine on the bedside table and explained to his wife that all there was to do at this point was try to make him comfortable. They said "Give him a spoonful at a time, as often as he needs. But be careful-- if he takes the whole bottle, then he'll die in his sleep. So just give him as much as he needs."
It felt like they were saying "Hey, here's how to euthanize this guy" without saying it. Which inside the legal and social system might be the best they can do, I guess.
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u/BTSherman 9h ago edited 9h ago
when my dad passed my mother didnt get the memo. she was scared of killing him and held off as much as she could. the guy would straight up get up. beg for morphine and she would give him half a dose.
she was so proud of herself for him living that long while in reality she was torturing him the entire time. fucking awful.
the worst part was that he had the best care in the world and signed a DNR cuz he felt like it was "time" and was transfered to at home hospice. if euthanasia was legal im sure he would have done that instead.
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u/Aggressive_Sky8492 9h ago
Damn that’s horrible, I’m sorry. If you aren’t married I suggest visiting a lawyer to make sure she’s not the one making decisions for you should the worst happen
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u/needsexyboots 9h ago
My dad’s hospice nurse was very careful to tell my mom exactly how much morphine to give him, and let her know if she gave him X amount he would probably die in his sleep so make sure you just don’t give him X amount. I’ve never asked my mom how much she gave him the night before he passed away and I don’t ever intend to, but I’m certain the nurse was letting us know in case my dad didn’t want to suffer anymore.
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u/classless_classic 7h ago
My buddy’s brother lives in a death with dignity state. Yesterday he was able to end things before the cancer got worse. Such a blessing for everyone.
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u/naked_avenger 10h ago
Watching my ex-wife’s grandmother suffocate to death when they took her off the vent instead of just giving her something to make it quick was outright traumatic. It took more than 5 minutes for this poor old woman to pass, and that’s a long time to watch someone you love slowly die in front of you.
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u/TotallyLegitEstoc 7h ago
My grandma suffered months of financially draining hospice “care” she died two years ago. My grandpa died a month ago. His mind had left him years ago but his body continued to live. He was put into hospice and died a few weeks later.
Both cases were terrible and they deserved to end things on their own terms. One could’ve decided during, one could’ve decided before what would be done when it happened.
And you know who benefitted from hospice? Not me, not the rest of the family, not my grandparents. No one close to them benefited.
But hospice care sure fucking did. They drained my grandpa of every last penny. In the event I am given that kind of timespan I’m gonna go on my own terms when the pain gets to be too much. I hope it’s legal to determine self termination after dementia or Alzheimer’s by the time I get there.
It’s cruel. All because of some rich white men’s “religion.”
If anyone reading this is for hospice care instead of peaceful death, go fuck yourself. My grandparents suffered and I’m struggling with the whole thing. I struggled for months and years as they slowly died.
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u/newscotian1 12h ago edited 7h ago
My wife and I have an agreement. It’s not our bodies we worry about that’s already busted and beaten. Life of the working class. For us the time will be the onset of anything related to any form of dementia. The moment I/we forget who we are is the time to check out. I’m thinking just old fashioned bottle of pills. Go off to sleep one last time.
Edit: Thanks to the anonymous person for the award! I can’t believe how this comment blew up. Seems I’ve touched a nerve for a lot of people. A lot of you had the unfortunate opportunity to watch firsthand the mental decline of a loved one. I just think we all want to go out with our dignity in tact. To be remembered for who we really were. All my very best to all of you!! This shows me the world needs more love all around. ❤️
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u/The_Frog_Fucker69 11h ago
I do not recommend bottles of pills as a paramedic here it can be more painful and risk surviving I can't say you should do something else but yah know not pills
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u/Thebeardinato462 7h ago
Oh come on my medic friend. We both know it depends on WHAT pills..
For others info, I’d you can get them over the counter, probably not a good choice.
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u/The_Frog_Fucker69 6h ago
Eh I've seen people take a lot of the strong shit and pull through cause someone found them etc and they ended up really fucked up from it again I don't advise ever hurting yourself but for the layman meds are not the way to go
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u/Life-LOL 7h ago
Depends what pills tbh.
Tylenol? Nah.
20 perc 30s? Yeah that will probably do it.
5 or 8 or whatever it was won't though. Thought 99 proof liquor would have helped but guess not
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u/karmagirl314 12h ago
The line for me is a very clear one- if I can’t wipe my own ass, or if I lose the cognitive ability to know that my ass needs wiping, and if there’s no possibility of me regaining that ability in the future, that’s my cue to leave.
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u/Impressive_Jaguar_70 10h ago
The scary thing is once you reach that stage you likely won't have the cognitive function to recognise you're in that position you never wanted to be in plus there'll likely already be safeguards in place to protect your well being
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u/Cowboywizzard 10h ago
1,000% this. People think they won't be able to wipe their own ass or recognize their wife and still be able to carry out self euthanasia? Also, do people think they are the first ones to ever think this way? Maybe there is a reason or two everyone doesn't just self check out. People say this stuff, but it's hot air almost all the time.
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u/Substantial-Sky-8097 7h ago
I think deep down people know this, but I also think these plans exist more to provide some comfort instead of spending countless years worrying about what will happen.
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u/BrookeBaranoff 11h ago
People think a bottle of pills will do it but often end up on the ER dying a slow painful death over the course of a week from the liver poisoning.
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u/Traditional-Hat-952 12h ago
I always tell people that I want a hundred question quiz about my life (important people, demographics, events, memories, etc) , and if I make a 30% or lower it's time to put me down.
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u/No_Research_967 12h ago
Write the quiz yourself, include things only you could know.
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u/Pewkie 11h ago
Post it online here so you can't lose it, and give me those three digits on the back of the card
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u/No_Research_967 11h ago
And your mother’s maiden name.
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u/JadedLeafs 11h ago
Also name of first childhood friend. Favourite teacher. Name of first pet and name of elementary school. You know. Just to be sure.
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u/lestatmajer 11h ago
Fun tip from someone in healthcare/ who works with dementia patients - your most recent memories typically go first. Not always the case, and really depends on what flavour of Dementia one gets. BUT, if you're writing a quiz for that purpose, make sure you write it per decade of life... If you start thinking your living your 30's again, might wanna start thinking of contingencies if that's the plan..
Great way I was once described dementia with memory loss: Imagine your life like a tall book case, where every tier is a decade if your life and memories, with your earliest years at the base. You add a new tier every decade. Dementia shakes that book case, and the first books to fall come from the top. As you keep shaking, more and more books fall off. Eventually you're only left with the books on the bottom shelf or two.
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u/FireQuad 11h ago
Pills is arguably one of the worst ways to go. And it rarely works the way you want to.
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u/Turbulent-Product927 11h ago
Sleeping Beauty syndrome. Came here to say this. Possibly one of the least reliable ways to go.
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u/Acceptable-Werewolf4 11h ago
What about a fentanyl pill that makes you go to sleep right away and stops all drive to breathe? That seems like a pretty nice way to go
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u/chewtality 9h ago
If you are literally talking about a single pill, then that will not work. If you actually mean an entire bottle of fentanyl pills, that would be a reliable and foolproof method.
Opioid overdoses aren't exactly what most people think they are. For starters, with most ODs the only thing that really happens is that the person passes out and is unconscious for a couple hours then wakes back up and is ok. You never hear about this kind for pretty obvious reasons, because no one ever finds out it happened in the first place unless the person who did it tells them.
A lot of other fatal opioid ODs are because the person passed out and then vomited and choked on their own vomit.
Others are because their breathing becomes so shallow that they essentially just suffocate over a potentially long period of time. Could be minutes, could be hours.
If you want to actually go to sleep "right away" then pill ingestion isn't really the solution anyway because it will take some time to fully digest and process it, so you'll definitely be aware of what's happening until you've absorbed enough that you pass out. A true instantaneous lights out and done is pretty much only possible with IV injection of sufficient quantity.
Some people have naturally high tolerances to opioids too, and require a much larger dose than average. I'm one of those people and it fucking sucks because whenever I've been prescribed pain meds doctors don't prescribe enough to actually provide any pain relief. Then if you tell them that they treat you like you're a drug seeking junkie trying to "score a fix" or whatever. Like no dawg, I just had fucking invasive surgery and what you prescribed for me to take home isn't even enough to provide a single day's worth of relief, but cool, thanks.
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u/LocalPeasant420 11h ago
would this pod not be better? you just peacefully die
bottle of pills your stomach might melt or sum shit
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u/cameron0208 11h ago
Pills? Nah.
Carbon Monoxide.
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u/makemebad48 10h ago
The long drive to nowhere, how my brother in law went. When we found him he looked incredibly at peace. Like he had just fallen asleep and was having a good dream. My chose way to go.
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u/McRemo 10h ago
Yep, my Dad went that way. He sealed up his truck and used a charcoal grill.
He was terminal and always vowed not to give the rest of his life savings to "those sons of bitches" to milk him till he was dead anyway.
He just wanted to do it his way and he had this big desire to leave something for his kids.
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u/SnuggleBunni69 9h ago
Friend of mine did the same thing. Charcoal grill and closed himself in the trunk. This was like 20 years ago and had no idea that was even a thing.
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u/Whelsey 9h ago
I tried it, two years ago on my bathroom. Was there for an hour or something before my family got home and helped. I thought it wouldve been faster, but I probably didn't seal the place properly. All I got for that was my eyes burning red and smelled like barbecue for a week
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u/BigManWAGun 9h ago
How you doin?
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u/Whelsey 9h ago
I've had ups and downs since then but not as low as that time
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u/smokeyleo13 11h ago
After watching my grandpa deteriorate over 2-3 years, i agree. Also, deathly afraid of what dementia me would say.
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u/Lopsided_Rabbit8077 12h ago
I just watched my gramma slowly die in hospice and I kept thinking it was so cruel. This should be readily available to everyone.
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u/sofaking_scientific 12h ago
Why? If she consented, what's the big deal?
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u/PUMPEDnPLUMP 12h ago
Religion infecting law
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u/sofaking_scientific 12h ago
It's not my religion so why would that be legal
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u/fetamorphasis 12h ago
The people who want religion involved don't care about you. And they vote to keep it that way.
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u/sofaking_scientific 12h ago
But it's pretend. It's not real. I'm a scientist and can think critically. Ugh I hate it
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u/Corporate_Entity 11h ago
When has that stopped religious nutters? They’d rather burn you in a stake than let you think different from them.
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u/terrajules 9h ago
Said it on another thread yesterday: religion has no place in law.
I’m of the opinion that it has no place in modern society but there are lots of people out there who feel happier when they’re told what to do and what to believe.
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u/Librocubicularistin 10h ago
It seems the device is at the moment illegal because-well wait for it- it does not comply with the product safety standards and the use of nitrogen is also not compatible with the Chemical Act. source in German
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u/spdelope 11h ago
Hey, they’re taking this seriously. They even arrested the camera guy.
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u/rjohnhello_meow 12h ago
Yeah, let people make their own choices. Like you said, assuming she consented and had all of her mental faculties to understand the decision, what's the problem?
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u/ElkIntelligent5474 12h ago
This looks like the best way to go. Take your pod to the woods, look at the beautiful sky and trees and then breath in a bit of deadly gas. So neat and tidy. Too bad it does come with a self cremator for after the bad air is breathed.
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u/DARfuckinROCKS 11h ago
My only request would be some psychedelics for the road.
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u/dachaotic1 10h ago
That would be the way I would like to go. From an altered state to a non-existent state.
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u/OnlyTheDead 10h ago
Does it? Hopefully it works as intended. Would be a shame to be partially suffocated only to awake some kind of vegetable for the rest of your existence. I’m sure this thing has had tons of oversight and ethical testing to make sure it functions as intended because it’s not like there is a long and storied history over predatory capitalists and medical devices.
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u/Dig-a-tall-Monster 8h ago
I mean even if the thing had leaks, the amount of gas being pumped into it is enough to kill you in under a minute, and IIRC it keeps pumping gas in for longer than that just to make extra sure you're 100% dead. Also the gas is just nitrogen.
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u/WisdomCow 12h ago
“Do you have any idea how much money this cheated our healthcare system out of to keep someone tortured in agony for another year?!?!”
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u/Traditional-Hat-952 12h ago
"Also, Jesus is very disappointed at them for not living with debilitating and excruciating pain day after day for years!"
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u/lamabaronvonawesome 12h ago
This is NOT fair to corporations, how are they going to take every last cent a person has so their children get nothing? This should be illegal!
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u/Random_Somebody 11h ago
The flip side of this: "oh no our actuarial tables determined every treatment for your condition is 'experimental.' The only authorized treatment we'll pay for on your $200 a month plan is a
10 cent plastic bagMedical Dignified Death Device with $1000 dollar copay"→ More replies (27)15
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u/lucky7355 10h ago
A painless death in minutes - why the hell are we still fucking around with experimental capital punishment options in the U.S. when stuff like this is available?
When you fail so many times with the electric chair and lethal injection, it doesn’t seem that hard.
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u/Toklankitsune 10h ago
because humane isn't the point with execution. (now I know that sentiment is bullshit, but it's how the justice system in the US sees it, if they had their way we'd still use firing squads, because it's cheap)
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u/mrpotatonutz 10h ago
We are being left behind in education, mass transit, standard of living and pretty much everything. Our massive GDP and military are what keep us a world superpower but for average citizens things keep sliding while it gets more expensive to exist
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u/_larsr 11h ago
We all should be able to freely decide when it is time to end our lives. Some day this will be understood to be a fundamental human right.
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u/EdgyYoungMale 5h ago
I really hope this happens within our lifetimes. My fear of death would be pretty much non-existent if I knew I had a painless, peaceful option at the end as opposed to rotting away in hospice.
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u/jmon25 9h ago
There is nothing dignified about slowly dying from an illness. My grandfather died of colon cancer that spread across his body. Eventually he couldn't even drink and his eyes shrivelled and he looked like a skeleton but was still alive. It's barbaric they couldn't allow him to die on his own terms (he wanted to a week before).
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u/TotallyLegitEstoc 7h ago
Where is the crime? It’s my life. No one else owns it.
I watched two of my grandparents die horrible deaths. One to cancer, one to dementia. Dying that way should be illegal. What is pictured above should be just fine.
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u/dblan9 11h ago
I thought the whole point of this specific project was that euthanasia was allowed now in Switzerland. The article doesn't go into the legality or did I miss it?
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u/meep- 10h ago
its kind of legal but has a lot of regulations, and this pod is a new method and the inventors could not get the proper clearance to use it (yet). the main difference is that current available methods require a doctor and specific medications, while this pod does not.
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u/copperwatt 11h ago edited 11h ago
Maybe it's illegal to make a device for the purpose? I dunno, I'm confused too.
I suspect no one did anything illegal. It sounds like a bunch of self-righteous pearl clutching by law enforcement. How about you guys try and solve murder and rape cases instead?
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u/hapbinsb 13h ago
Fuck this meddling. Let people check out when they feel it's time for them to check out.
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u/RecentTemporary3389 12h ago
For real, would you all prefer to clean up a gun shot to the head?
Let people die in peace. There are far more violent and messy, albeit easier ways to go.
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u/husbandbulges 12h ago edited 11h ago
Having lost a family member to that, I totally agree.
My aunt who took her life lined her floor and bed with garbage bags and blankets, and left a note apologizing for the mess, to me and to the police.
That sorta broke me. Like she was apologizing for how she even had to exit. Shit.
Sorry, I miss her. She was my last family member on my mom’s side left and one helluva aunt and great aunt.
Fuck cancer
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u/ConsiderationNew2152 11h ago
Awful to say but that's what's keeping me from going that route. Too many items (especially since I just moved and now see everything in boxes) to get rid of and a cat that I'd have to rehome. It's mentally exhausting.
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u/husbandbulges 11h ago
Ride it out my friend. There is someone out there who loves you and would be crushed to lose you.
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u/qu33fwellington 10h ago
Ugh, I’m so sorry for your loss. If it is any consolation, women on average do worry more about ‘the mess’, so to speak, should they go out by their own hand.
Some do what your aunt (RIP) did, many employ other less ‘messy’ methods.
I’m not saying your aunt is a statistic, rather that she shared a commonly noted act of compassion (misplaced or not) with many other women in her place.
Fuck cancer, indeed.
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u/qu33fwellington 12h ago edited 12h ago
Seriously. Stop interfering with bodily autonomy in this way. It’s preposterous.
Not to be all ‘I didn’t ask to be here!’ But I literally didn’t, none of us did. If we want to take some control over when we end it then that should be allowed.
I’ve read a couple articles about these pods being approved for use due to crippling mental illness (I’m not sure in which country) and a) I am happy that is an option because it legitimizes invisible illnesses and b) the care and checks to ensure absolute certainty (trying various forms of treatments, intensive therapy, deep look into medical history) of the patient is quite heartwarming in an odd way.
We should as a society accept that people will want to end their lives for various reasons, putting up barriers and, as you said, meddling in it is only going to go the way of banning abortions: people will still do it, and a lot of times it will be much worse and less safe.
Heck, people off themselves in various ways every day. It’s already happening. Why not put a system in place to either end up potentially getting those people help, or giving them a way to go with no pain, little chance of failure, and entirely sure they are making the right choice.
Seems like it would make it easier for everyone involved, including loved ones.
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u/Beginning_Guess_3413 12h ago
This seems a lot more dignified than the ol’ Remington retirement plan. If your body is failing you and you likely won’t survive anyway, this should be an option. Sure seems like it’d beat dying of a degenerative disease that just goes on and on as your quality of life decreases.
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u/ams-1986 9h ago
"Only the State and God decide when you get to stop! Now get back to work!"
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u/mantellaaurantiaca 13h ago
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u/mrpotatonutz 10h ago
It’s illegal to cheat the hospitals out of billing for a slow prolonged expensive death
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u/TheRiflesSpiral 9h ago
When my uncle was diagnosed with Leukaemia and the cancer center talked with them about how much treatment would cost and what insurance, etc would cover (and how little life it would afford him) he just looked at them and said "nah."
He refused to bankrupt his family and told them he was refusing treatment.
Well what do you know, suddenly, the cost of treatment just magically came to exactly what the insurance company would pay. Even the super-experimental and super-expensive drugs (that half their patients were on) were magically "covered" under some research project that just happened to start that day.
For-profit healthcare is an abomination and will eat this country alive if we don't fix it soon.
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u/saml01 12h ago
You might not have a choice when you come into this world, but you should be allowed to decide when you leave.
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u/_ViolentlyPretty 7h ago
For people wondering about a serious alternative, there is Dignitas in Switzerland.
I did a lot of research about all of this, including the legal options here in the US when my mom was diagnosed with dementia.
Dignitas is surprisingly affordable and easier to access than most would think.
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u/snksleepy 10h ago
The government allows all sorts of heinous practices due to cultural beliefs but draws the line of at allowing elders to die a painless death.
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u/ZoneWombat99 10h ago
I'm really hoping that as GenX ages we'll start to get rational and empathetic laws around death with dignity, rather than religion -based or medical corporate based torture.
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u/TheRainbowpill93 7h ago
As a health care provider, you’d be surprised at how many people become vegetables and cursed to live their lives without a mind, dependent on a ventilator to breath. And a nurse to clean their shit. Forever.
Tbh it’s a fate worse than death and the only reason is because people / families (and I completely understand it) have a real hard time letting go.
That’s why I know in my will, I will never let my family put me in that position. Give me morphine and let me die pls.
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u/Monkeyboogaloo 7h ago
In the woods looks like a lovely way to go.
I'm all for assisted death. I'd take it over decline any day.
Watched my dad after he decided it was time to go. He stopped eating and it took a few days. Undignified.
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u/AttilaTheFun818 10h ago
I’ve had this talk with my fiancé and we’re of similar minds. We accept some level of pain in our lives, but if at the end it becomes too much and too constant we want a dignified end. Similarly if we get hit with dementia or anything like that and we lose our sense of self, we are already dead in any sense that matters. Time to go and see what’s next.
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u/Past-Direction9145 11h ago
Oh this is fun
I'm dying of an incurable progressive pain inflammation disease. Watching my limbs quit working. Watching $10k a month in meds go into my veins.
I used to complain about having no insurance. Oh, once I had no bank account and truly reached rock bottom blacklisted from everyone, hey. They pay for it all now. All.
But I'm still dying.
And wouldn't you know it?
Canada offers euthanasia for my disease.
The us does not. A I'm a felon which means never even visiting Canada. I'm extremely devout. So sorry. So. Sucks to be me.
I could use some compassion and help. In America I get averted eyes. Hurry up and die, under the breath of every federal or state assistant. Dude, you're costing people money. Hurry up and die. :(
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u/lordlanyard7 10h ago
What you're going through sucks, but I hope today or tomorrow has some good in it for you.
Hope you get to eat something good, and something makes you laugh.
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u/Ok_Replacement4702 13h ago
Timeline for when we can buy these in the States?
Asking for a friend
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u/boonepii 9h ago edited 6h ago
OMG, this is a nice way out. They find anesthesiologists keeled over with a nitrous mask on their face quite regularly. They know how amazing it is to be doped up with this stuff and how easy it is to die.
I once disconnected a huge n2o tank from an anesthesia machine and accidentally turned off the wrong valve and I got this stuff blown in my face. It took seconds for me to turn it off, but I will never forgot the high. I couldn’t stop laughing and giggling while I also thought I was gonna die.
If I lose it, this would be my choice over sneaking into an operating room.
Edit. See below, I likely abbreviated nitrous incorrectly.
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u/classy-mother-pupper 11h ago
Good for her. At least she went on her own terms. Sometimes people are just done.
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u/TouristOpentotravel 10h ago
I told my wife if I ever get a terminal cancer diagnosis, or ALS, I’m going to Europe and checking out.
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u/Traditional-Purpose2 10h ago
Oregon. There are rules, but Oregon has laws protecting the right to die with dignity.
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u/Super_Zucchini5470 7h ago
If adults want to die, they should have humane, legal ways to do it. It’s a scary, taboo subject…until you’re the one (or a loved one) is dying a slow, agonizing death.
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u/JadedLeafs 11h ago
It's been legal in Canada for a while now. No real reason why it shouldn't be in most civilized countries to be honest.
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u/0nlyhalfjewish 6h ago
When a beloved pet is dying a slow and painful death:
“We put them out of their misery.”
“It’s the humane thing to do.”
“It’s not about what we want; it’s about doing what’s best for them. This isn’t the time to be selfish.”
“We got to say goodbye and be there as they passed.”
This is how it should be with every living being.
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u/chooseyourshoes 11h ago
Everyone involved suffers when they force someone to stay alive. The person. The family. The caregivers. The taxpayers. EVERYONE.
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u/catedarnell0397 9h ago
Seem to me she chose how she wanted to die. She was a grown woman in terrible pain, so WTF? People should be able to chose to die with dignity. No one in the scenario should be charged
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u/milkjake 6h ago
A lady who wants to die leads to many arrests, and on the same day down in Missouri a man who’s probably innocent is murdered by the state.
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u/nissanfan64 10h ago
Why this is controversial to some people is beyond me. Not only do I think this should be an option to anyone with failing and incurable health conditions, I think if someone wants to die due to horrible life circumstances then more power to them. Have at it.
I’d rather they do it in a calm and organized way like this than something that could end up just maiming them and causing more pain.
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u/mylittlewallaby 3h ago
People deserve autonomy over the way we choose to die. This woman met a peaceful end by her own accord. No one involved should be punished. But I can see how this kind of thing won’t work for the capitalists. We can’t all choose to exit this system and keep feeding their war machines and plantations. Seems like the only actual problem with this is jurisdictional. I hope it insights a real conversation about autonomy at the end of our lives
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u/AmeliaEARhartthedox 10h ago
How the fuck can we say it’s “humane” to let pets go peacefully but when it comes to humans we don’t allow this? Absolutely abhorrent.
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u/Khancap123 10h ago
Regardless of your take on ending your own life, the machine appears, when running properly to be far more humane than electrocution or lethal injection frankly.
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u/Nlarko 10h ago
I mean we have MAID(Medically Assistance In Dying) here in Canada. I feel it’s the compassionate/ethical way to go of one chooses! Watching my Dad whittle away to nothing and die from throat cancer was horrific. My dogs/cats have had more humane deaths.
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u/Challenger2060 9h ago
I have medical power of attorney for some of my family. The way they explained what they want to me is: if you wouldn't put a pet through it, don't put us through it.
That, and watching my grandma's brain slowly rot from dementia fills me with such a visceral rage that the only argument against the right to choose your death is, "wE cAnT pLaY gOd".
Yes, we can. If people really believe in a loving, merciful god, we absolutely can.
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u/2ndSnack 5h ago
Pro death with dignity. Amazing that we deny people what they want as if we know them better than they know themselves. Guess what? People suffer. People have no quality of life. Why should it be anyone else's place to decide what is best for the person whose dealing with a life that is nothing but grief to them? Allowing a painless peaceful death is monumentally better than the trauma some people will try instead. The dead cannot regret. So that's a bs excuse.
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u/Taminella_Grinderfal 9h ago
I’m watching my mom decline very quickly in the last few months. Nothing specific or really treatable at this point, just age. I expect if she could order one of these, she’d park it in the yard and climb right in. No one should have to live in pain or confined to a shitty nursing home bed wearing a diaper if they don’t want to.
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u/shewy92 8h ago
Unlike Fry, I'll take a nitrogen filled pod under a canopy of trees (quick and painless) over a slow painful death