UK: Man shot wife with dementia in care home 'to end suffering'
32 replies, posted
[IMG]http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/0747/production/_87436810_compo_pa_eastnewspressagency_976.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE]An elderly man who shot his dementia patient wife at point-blank range told care home staff she "had suffered enough", a court has heard. Rita King, 81, died at De La Mer House in Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex, on 28 December last year. Her husband Ronald, 87, is on trial at Chelmsford Crown Court. He denies murder. After shooting his wife, jurors heard, Mr King turned the gun on himself but told staff "I cannot do it".
He shot Mrs King through the eye with her father's World War Two Enfield service revolver, using a bullet dating back to 1943, the court heard. He told staff: "I've just shot my wife. She had suffered enough."[/QUOTE]
Source:
[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-36714876]BBC NEWS[/url]
[url=http://metro.co.uk/2016/07/05/elderly-army-veteran-shot-dead-dementia-stricken-wife-at-her-care-home-5987691/]Metro[/url]
This is what happens when society turns a blind eye to allowing people to euthanize themselves. Everyone should have the right to death, even if people disagree with the practice, sometimes things just don't get better and people prefer any way out.
This is morbidly depressing.
With her father's service pistol. Christ.
Depending on how the proceedings go, this may turn into a case of great interest given the precedent it could produce.
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;50651004]This is what happens when society turns a blind eye to allowing people to euthanize themselves. Everyone should have the right to death, even if people disagree with the practice, sometimes things just don't get better and people prefer any way out.[/QUOTE]
As the BBC article states:
[quote]Shortly after they moved to the town, Mrs King began showing signs of dementia.
By the time of her death, jurors heard, Mrs King could make simple decisions about eating and drinking but could not have made big or far-reaching decisions.
Mr Jackson told the jury she could not have entered into what is commonly called a suicide pact because she did not have the ability to retain information.[/quote]
Someone who's that far gone can't even legally consent to euthanasia. I don't think a right-to-die law would have helped here, it's more an issue of when someone can be euthanized without their consent and that's historically been an even bigger can of worms.
And there are still people that would rather force people to execute their loved ones rather than give them a humane and respectful death
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;50651004]This is what happens when society turns a blind eye to allowing people to euthanize themselves. Everyone should have the right to death, even if people disagree with the practice, sometimes things just don't get better and people prefer any way out.[/QUOTE]It's not like she could be ethically euthanized in the first place, the article alludes to this.
Honestly I'm half expecting to suffer from Dementia and Alzheimers in my old age, so I'd hope someone would put a bullet in my head if I ever end up that way, especially if I turn into a vegetable. At this point I wouldn't call it living, I'd call it a living Hell.
There's a song that mirrors a lot of this story.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XcCHa90-HY[/media]
Tragic.
My father has already told me back when I was a teenager that if he started losing his marbles to just push him in front of a train and frankly I hold the same sentiment. My grandmother still thinks both my sister and I are in school (we're adults and have jobs and so forth) and she sees people who aren't real.
If I ever start losing my mind I'd rather my family just position me to drop off a cliff or something.
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;50651004]This is what happens when society turns a blind eye to allowing people to euthanize themselves. Everyone should have the right to death, even if people disagree with the practice, sometimes things just don't get better and people prefer any way out.[/QUOTE]
Society hardly turned a blind eye to it, at least in this country. It's been debated and it was determined that it would present more problems than it would be worth.
At any rate, she wasn't able to consent to euthanasia anyway. Imagine how scared she must have been when she saw a gun pointed at her, and imagine how hard it must have been for the chap to pull the trigger.
Justified mercy killing.
That's depressing, hope the guy isn't charged.
Sad but completely understandable.
[QUOTE=Hoboiam;50651153]There's a song that mirrors a lot of this story.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XcCHa90-HY[/media]
Tragic.[/QUOTE]
I read the thread title and instantly went to grab this song
Obviously she wasn't in a position to consent to euthanasia, but if the system was in place when her dementia began but before she lost her awareness then wouldn't she have been able to preemptively agree to something? It's dangerous waters because consent can change at any time and numerous other issues in that area, but I feel like there is a better way to deal with this than mercy killing or rotting away in a care home.
I'm gonna solve this in my own way; at some point after 40, I will write a consent letter to any possible children/friends/other family I have that gives my own consent to pulling the plug if I ever become a vegetable. That's how it should be to me; like how some people in America that can't afford ambulances and the like have notes saying "Please don't call an ambulance" I'd like for people to be able to, perhaps online through a system, register to give an answer on whether or not they'd want to die in the case of mental rot.
[QUOTE=bastian-07;50651333]I'm gonna solve this in my own way; at some point after 40, I will write a consent letter to any possible children/friends/other family I have that gives my own consent to pulling the plug if I ever become a vegetable. That's how it should be to me; like how some people in America that can't afford ambulances and the like have notes saying "Please don't call an ambulance" I'd like for people to be able to, perhaps online through a system, register to give an answer on whether or not they'd want to die in the case of mental rot.[/QUOTE]
Wouldn't that be a shitter if medical technology has advanced sufficiently to bring you out of a PVS, though? As above, it's all very well having preemptive documents in place but circumstances can change quickly.
[QUOTE=Dr. Ethan Asia;50651377]Wouldn't that be a shitter if medical technology has advanced sufficiently to bring you out of a PVS, though? As above, it's all very well having preemptive documents in place but circumstances can change quickly.[/QUOTE]
What if you're in unimaginable pain the entire time that you're waiting though? Is it even worth it at that point? I think that that's a risk, and decision, that everyone should have the right to decide on their own.
[QUOTE=Dr. Ethan Asia;50651377]Wouldn't that be a shitter if medical technology has advanced sufficiently to bring you out of a PVS, though? As above, it's all very well having preemptive documents in place but circumstances can change quickly.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I suppose you're right. For example, consider this: you consent to being euthanized if you become too mentally ill, at some point you decide to null this. How do they judge if you're in clarity of mind at that point? I realize extensive interviews are already conducted when doctor assisted suicide happens now, but how would you even say "please don't actually kill me I changed my mind"
I think if euthanasia was legal in Britain, there's no way she could have reasonably been allowed to follow through as she would not be mentally capable of understanding her actions
this is different when someone suffers locked in syndrome as they can still communicate through computer assistance or placards but have the full brain knowledge of knowing what they're doing
she would of forgot what she was doing
it actually really sucks and reading this article is just heart wrenchingly sad, but unfortunately i just don't think the law will be on his side
Both of my grandparents suffer from severe senile dementia. This is probably gonna sound callous and selfish, but I kinda hope they finally pass soon because seeing them like that is ridiculously painful.
The thing that sucks is that I know that both my dad and I will likely suffer the same fate. Just fucking shoot me if I get that bad, holy shit.
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;50651004]This is what happens when society turns a blind eye to allowing people to euthanize themselves. Everyone should have the right to death, even if people disagree with the practice, sometimes things just don't get better and people prefer any way out.[/QUOTE]
Stephen Hawking is a proponent of assisted suicide. Honestly, the amount he suffers, it's no wonder.
Although I've contemplated suicide in the past and still have my own battles with depressive thoughts, it feels like a winning fight these days.
Honestly I hope to die long before ever developing dementia, I wonder if people suffering from it now ever thought that in the past but are now no longer capable of making the decision.
[QUOTE=Dr. Ethan Asia;50651198]Society hardly turned a blind eye to it, at least in this country. It's been debated and it was determined that it would present more problems than it would be worth.
At any rate, she wasn't able to consent to euthanasia anyway. Imagine how scared she must have been when she saw a gun pointed at her, and imagine how hard it must have been for the chap to pull the trigger.[/QUOTE]
It's entirely possible her dementia had rendered her so far gone she didn't even know what a gun was anymore.
[QUOTE=BANNED USER;50651123]Honestly I'm half expecting to suffer from Dementia and Alzheimers in my old age, so I'd hope someone would put a bullet in my head if I ever end up that way, especially if I turn into a vegetable. At this point I wouldn't call it living, I'd call it a living Hell.[/QUOTE]
My grandfather has Alzheimer's, and it's challenging. He's like a child anymore, and my grandmother and I have to do most everything for him. My mom and aunt also help out. He's gone blind from glaucoma, and I think that actually took more out of him than the Alzheimer's did. He sees things that aren't really there (which is a really interesting phenomenon to me, because of the detail he pictures stuff in despite being completely blind), and I know he feels lonely and depressed a lot. Sometimes he's fearful, like when he hallucinates people standing in our house. He's told me before that he feels useless and like he's a burden to us. But at the same time, he's also told me that he wants to stay alive and be with us for as long as he can.
It's really just a luck of the draw matter. For some people, it's not so bad. Some get the point where they don't know where in the hell they are, and they really don't care. They live in their own little world, and they seem happy or indifferent about it. My mom tells a story about this old woman she used to see when she'd go to spend time with our great-aunt in a nursing home; she'd wear all these old furs, makeup, would dance and was just extremely fun and pleasant to be around. Others unfortunately aren't so lucky.
One thing that's for certain however is that we need to start having this conversation more and more now, because the Baby Boomer generation isn't getting any younger, and this is going to be a bigger issue for us all as they get older. And even us young people need to think and talk about it too as a preemptive matter; if you live long enough, you'll deteriorate mentally and physically the same way everybody else does. It's a personal and social issue as much as it is a scientific/medical issue.
Illnesses and diseases are such a terrible thing. Somebody's sick and it also hurts the people around them
I can't imagine taking care of a sick person, it'd drain me emotionally. I don't think I could do it
And I certainly wouldn't have the balls to kill my loved one to end her suffering (but perhaps at 82 I wouldn't be that upset with the law, I'd have nothing to lose at that point, my live'd have been lived by then)
Props to the man, hope he doesn't suffer from having killed his wife too much
This is really sad because I remember sitting with my Great Grandmother in her nursing home, suffering dementia, and watching my Great Grandfather suffer crippling depression from watching her fade away.
What more could you possibly do to punish someone who was forced to put a bullet in their own SO.
Heartbreaking. Even though I understand from his point of view. When it comes to someone having Dementia/Alzheimers, you have already lost that person due to those circumstances before death.
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