I have to say that was something odd in this story out of London where authorities appear to complement the planning and consideration that David Grant showed in his own suicide.
Grant, 40, used Google Earth to locate a perfect spot for his suicide and researched the best way to plan his death by carbon monoxide poisoning. To protect the public, he placed signs on his car that warned them of the deadly gas and warned “Danger. Do not enter at any cost. CO2 kills.” [We can forgive the use of the carbon dioxide reference rather than CO]
The car parts worker had been battling with work-related stress. He left a list of his next of kin for police and put his matters in order.
Det Sgt Michael Brewer said: “He had arranged it with almost too much precision, Everything was very neatly done.” Coroner Ian Arrow added his own praise in a recorded a suicide verdict, saying: “He planned this with great expertise.”
The praise was accepted posthumously by Mr. Grant.
For the full story, click here.
Do you think euthanasia doesn’t happen in Western countries (barring The Netherlands)? It’s happening all day, every day. My ex-girlfriend in Australia was a nurse in the cancer ward and she confirmed a few cases a week were given lethal doses of morphine.
It was done only after the begging insistence of people whose conditions were so dire they (for e.g.) would be turning to liquid in their beds and any attempt to move them would rupture their bodies. She said even religious people vehemently opposed to suicide would beg for death with their family’s blessing when seeing the condition.
Sometimes one should recognize that the decision to suicide is a reasonable one.
I really despise right to lifers like Ann, my wife of 18 years, xiao Mei, died on the 12th or 13th of October last year and it may be that but for the interfering of such Christianist do-gooder busybodies she might still be alive.
Several years ago the Northern Territory of Australia introduced an enlightened law allowing terminally ill people to euthanise themselves. This law caused outrage among the Christian Taliban members of the Australian Federal Government led by George the Stupid’s little mate John Howard. The Federal Government rushed to pass a law overriding that of the Northern Territory. It could do this because the Northern Territory is not a state and the Federal Government retains some legislative power over it.
Last year in February 2008, my wife was diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer. She had a major operation and was in hospital for weeks, then after coming out of hospital she underwent six cycles of chemotherapy with the current front line drug, carboplatin. This seemed to work wonders, after the sixth cycle she seemed back to full strength. No one who saw her would have suspected she was ill. There was a pause while the hospital did some tests and X-rays and another cycle of chemotherapy was scheduled.
Then all went wrong, the tests showed that the cancer had become resistant to carboplatin and the X-Rays that it had spread to her lungs. It counter attacked with extreme viciousness and within 2 weeks she was back in hospital with fluid clogged lungs panting for breath and with severe pneumonia. She was treated for pneumonia and had fluid drained from her lungs and abdomen. She came home after the pneumonia was fixed, but we had to take her back after no more than one day as the fluid build up recurred and she was impossibly uncomfortable. She spent another term in hospital for draining and pain relief and when she came home again she had morphine for the pain and an oxygen machine to help her breathe. She was in constant misery from the breathlessness caused by the fluid in the lungs although the morphine provided adequate pain relief. She was unable to walk without the help of a walker or someone to support her. The first round of the second string chemotherapy was scheduled for 15/10/2008 but on 12/10/2008 she drove off in her little car, found a quiet spot and overdosed on morphine. It was not really suicide in the normal sense but self-euthanasia. In past years when TV programs brought up the topic she had said that she would not want to go on living if she had a crippling accident or acquired a terminal disease. Several weeks before she died she had mentioned the option of going to Switzerland where euthanasia is legal, but that was out of the question because it would have taken us several months to arrange for travel and the necessary vetting, and her life expectancy at that time in the 80% probable likelihood that the second string drug did not work was three months. She killed herself 2 days before the new chemotherapy was to be started. I believe that she was not willing to risk waiting because if the new chemo did not work she might be too weak by then to take her fate into her own hands. Had the option of euthanasia under the Northern Territory legislation been available I believe she would have waited and might have had the benefit of he drug if she happened to be among the 20% that this second string drug helps.
The only reason that I am not praying to Lucifer for vengeance on Tony Abbott and the other Christian slime who nixed the NT law is that I am an atheist. Because of their bastardry Xiao Mei lost the 20% chance of life that she may have had. On second thoughts may there be a Hell and may they rot therin, may their children die in pain and horror and go to hell were demons flay their skins which constantly regrow to be peeled off again. Polls of public opinion on the NT euthanasia law showed that a considerable majority of Australian citizens were in favour.
Like the polite man with the signs on his car, Xiao Mei was considerate of others. She managed to conceal her intentions until it was too late to stop her, if she not done so we would have been obligated to stop her as being present at a such a planned suicide is illegal. Because of this she died alone.
I admire her for having the fortitude to go through with it. What would have happened had I realized her intentions in time and stopped her and had she then died after 3 months of pain and indignity. I know Xiao Mei would have forgiven me but would I have been able to forgive myself?
There are things worse than death. I believe that it is rational for someone suffering intractable depression to take suicide as it also is for those in the underclass who realize that there is no realistic hope of a better future, because God’s children hate them and have no intention of allowing their conditions of life to improve. Young Australian aborigines, the descendants of unlawful migrants who arrived in Australia 40,000 years before the rightful owners are in this position and unsurprisingly hang themselves from trees at many times the rate that white Australians of equivalent age do, and they should be admired for it.
ann 1, May 20, 2009 at 8:39 pm
I have heard abortion doctors congratulate each other on having a ‘productive” day.
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I am impressed a Troll that can think outside the box. A Troll is a Troll and a Troll can change only if they have a desire to change, it may take a while, but it can be done. One Day at a Time. But ann is still a Troll none the less. But she/it did a good job assimilating a complete sentence. Sounds like a Fat Man sound bite, but still not impressive.
I have heard abortion doctors congratulate each other on having a ‘productive” day. In fact, some earn large bonuses for being especially “productive”. Seems a little hypcritical to be comdemning the police for a job well done……..
That’s better than my bipolar friend. He turned on the gas and sealed up the doors and windows. My friend was not known for his attention to detail. It was probably because of his illness.
What my friend forgot was the pilot lights on the stove. Instead of falling asleep he was blown out his second story window. His body landed in the middle of the street. He got the job done, but not in the way he hoped.
What a stupid putz and a wussy to boot.
I’ve always been troubled by the extremely inconsiderate nature of Hunter Thompson’s suicide. The story was that it was a rational choice, that he was old and sick and tired. If so, why blow his brains out in the kitchen with his family in the next room? Why not walk up the hill and do it outdoors where the ants and the birds could clean up the mess? He’d spent his whole life training for the fight with W that was just beginning. It makes no sense.
I’ve come to know a few things abut suicide over the years most notably,
When someone is determined to die, they will find a way.
This guy was determined and I gotta agree with the police, he was very considerate.
He didn’t do it in his home, or leave a messy corpse for his family to have to find and clean up. He didn’t do it by getting drunk and driving into traffic, taking others who only wanted to get home from work or out to the movies along with him.
Mr Grant meant to do this and his thoughtfulness in planning and carrying out his plan was flawless.
I don’t claim to understand suicide and I’ve heard lots of slogans, like it is a permanent solution to a temporary problem and stuff like that. I don’t know why, but I’ve been touched by suicides since I was a little kid and a friend’s father offed himself in their garage. This was long ago where there were no anti-depressant medications or suicide hotlines,in the 1950’s when we were all supposed to have been giddy on post-war success and this guy built a thriving business out of nothing. He seemed to have it all. No one could have predicted it. His 7 year old son found him.
So. If someone if determined to die, let him follow Mr. Grant’s example and do it nicely, neatly, considerately.
Give the guy a break, Milo. So he got his chemistry a bit wrong during his sign construction….an understandable error, given his state of mind.
Correction CO nor CO2.
As a person that has acted on suicide and was unsuccessful with the result, I find this interesting. I did try the CO2 and did not succeed. I then tried smoking myself, I ended up in the Hospital for 3 days. The result was nothing was left. Maybe he found a more peaceful way.
Believe it or not, when a person contemplates suicide it is not always a cry for help. I hope this does make sense.
Too bad carbon monoxide is actually known as CO, not CO2.