Deaf twins going blind euthanized in Belgium.

[powderman]

 
http://www.whas11.com/news/health/Deaf-twins-going-blind-euthanized-186808691.htmlDeaf twins going blind euthanized  Deaf twins going blind euthanized by RUSSELL GOLDMAN  ABC NEWS Posted on January 14, 2013 at 12:35 PM
Updated Monday, Jan 14 at 4:47 PM       (ABC NEWS) -- Two deaf twin brothers in Belgium were euthanized by their doctor after realizing they were going blind and would be unable to see each other ever again, their physician says.

The  45-year-old men, whose names have not been made public, were legally put to death by lethal injection at the Brussels University Hospital in Jette, on Dec. 14.

The men, who were born deaf, had a cup of coffee and said goodbye to other family members before walking into hospital room together to die, their doctor told Belgian television station RTL.

“They were very happy. It was a relief to see the end of their suffering,” Dr. David Dufour said.

“They had a cup of coffee in the hall. It went well and a rich conversation. Then the separation from their parents and brother was very serene and beautiful,” he said. “At the last there was a little wave of their hands and then they were gone.”

More than 1,000 people legally availed themselves of doctor-assisted deaths in Belgium in 2011, most of them were terminally ill cancer patients.

The brothers are unique in that their illness was not terminal. Belgian law, however, allows doctors to euthanize “suffering” patients who are both mentally sound, over 18 and want to die.

Belgian lawmakers are considering a law that would extend euthanasia to dementia patients and children, whose families and doctors consented.
Click here for more from ABC News.

[BUGEYE]

I guess old scratch is successful over there.  he just won a bunch of souls for his inferno.

[powderman]

I guess old scratch is successful over there.  he just won a bunch of souls for his inferno.

 
BUGEYE. Sad but true. POWDERMAN. 

[ChungDoQuan]

Sounds like a hard to deliver act of kindness.

[Shu]

Deaf and then going blind on top of it. I challenge anyone who thinks these guys had an easy life to wear a blind fold and hearing protection for 2 weeks. Wearing it 24 hours a day and no verbal communication.
 
I really have mixed feelings about it, I can certainly understand why they did it. I don't know if I could.

[kennyd]

my real concern is that they will start encouraging this.  the rationing of care for elderly or seriously ill.  Wife and I have written that we don't want certain things done to no avail, but certainly want a reasonable effort to keep us going when there is a lot we can accomplish.  As for demntia, and some of those things, nobody can tell where those people live, so are they happy or not?

[ChungDoQuan]

Some people live in incredible, intolerable pain. When all you have to look forward to is more pain, physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual, dying is not so frightening.

"I was dead for billions of years before I was born, and I'll be dead for billions of years after I die--- THIS is what's unusual." Mark Twain

[Shu]

The Belgium law states that the person must request to have their life terminated and it has to be approved by a board of doctors stating the person is in their right mind. The law seems pretty well written. It is not a question of the government picking who lives or dies.
 
Mental illness requests are supposedly turned down. I can imagine if a peson was in intolerable pain, or had some horrible terminal disease they would go this route. It would be a tough decision.
 
This topic is always difficult. I have mixed feelings about it but I think a persons free will is just that. The government should not be able to tell you when to live or die.

[two-blocked]

I've told my kids that when they think it's time for me to check out to put me in the car, park it in the garage and leave it running. Might change that to give me a one way ticket to Belgium! 
Hope I have the mental capacity and intestinal fortitude to know when to go Jack Kevorkian.

[BUGEYE]

My biggest problem with this is, is it self murder??  I think God is the one that makes those decisions about dying.  the only cases of suicide in the Bible is by some pretty Un-Godly people.
plus people are getting to where they don't cherish life. (Gods gift)

families should take care of people like this.  Helen Keller for instance.
IMO the whole family is guilty of murder.

[Shu]

Bugeye,
That is part of the reason I have some conflict with this. These men were 45 years old and deaf. When they started going blind rapidly they made the choice not their family. So they used to read for enjoyment, now being blind they do what for enjoyment?
Helen Keller was born deaf and blind a bit of a different circumstance. Try wearing ear plugs, ear muffs and a blind fold for a week. If you use verbal communication once during this time frame or remove the hearing protectors or blind fold you fail. Try it and picture being like that for 30+ years.
 
Truly God makes those decisions, however since mankind stepped up to the plate and wantonly disobeyed (via the garden with Adam and Eve) to fracture God's wonderful creation we have sickness and disease. Not everyone can bear the weight of the hand they are dealt while others can easily. This is really a tough decision and nothing that should be taken lightly.
 
Why do we put such a value on some human life and yet we want to bomb others back to the stone age? Do we not have the same conflicts with this also?
 
 

[lakota]

I have had 1 person who was very close to me commit suicide and it was to end years of suffering and chronic pain due to a long and debilitating illness. This person was denied the same courtesy that our society grants to a suffering pet. When it comes to a suffering pet who has no hope to live we say "Old Rex sure is suffering, best to put him down and end his misery." But when a person is suffering and has no hope to live we say "No euthanasia! Life at all cost regardless of the suffering that must be enudured!" Seems slightly more than a little hypocritical to me. I wish the person that I am speaking off had the option to end thier life with dignity and without pain rather than the horrific and very painful way they chose to end thier suffering. Not everyone here has had to watch someone struggle with years of chronic pain and a loss of freedom and mobility and lifestyle due to an illness. It takes it's toll on a person. Sometimes life can get to the point of where it is no longer a gift and becomes a burden that must be carried. Think about that before you judge someone who wants to end thier suffering.

[BUGEYE]

Bugeye,
That is part of the reason I have some conflict with this. These men were 45 years old and deaf. When they started going blind rapidly they made the choice not their family. So they used to read for enjoyment, now being blind they do what for enjoyment?
Helen Keller was born deaf and blind a bit of a different circumstance. Try wearing ear plugs, ear muffs and a blind fold for a week. If you use verbal communication once during this time frame or remove the hearing protectors or blind fold you fail. Try it and picture being like that for 30+ years.
 
Truly God makes those decisions, however since mankind stepped up to the plate and wantonly disobeyed (via the garden with Adam and Eve) to fracture God's wonderful creation we have sickness and disease. Not everyone can bear the weight of the hand they are dealt while others can easily. This is really a tough decision and nothing that should be taken lightly.
 
Why do we put such a value on some human life and yet we want to bomb others back to the stone age? Do we not have the same conflicts with this also?

Since they liked to read, they could have been taught to read brail.  They were not in pain.


Lakota, my mother-in-law lived here with my wife and I for several years.  She got addicted to pain killers but she was comfortable, plus she had dementia. She died a little over a year ago at age 96.
That's how my wife and I got into taking cruises. My SIL would come and relieve us to get away for a while.

[BBF]

Sure beats swallowing a shotgun!

[BUGEYE]

OFF TOPIC
Shu, I tried twice to reply to your pm, the first one said I was forbidden and the second vanished so I don't know if you got anything.

OFF TOPIC BUT NECESSARY