Processing your request, Please wait....In a frank and personal documentary, author Sir Terry Pratchett considers how he might choose to end his life. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2008, Terry wants to know whether he might be able to end his life before his disease takes over.
Travelling to the Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland, Terry witnesses first hand the procedures set out for assisted death, and confronts the point at which he would have to take the lethal drug.
Released 13 Jun 2011. Director: Charlie Russell. TV documentary. (Suggested by Paul)
This documentary is amazing and very balanced. No propaganda or religious damnation undertones. Just the facts and Sir Terry’s own views- edited in such a way that it’s easy to separate the opinion portions from the factual.
As for Mrs. Smedley, I think she wasn’t so much afraid to show emotion as she was trying to be as loving, kind, and strong as possible for her husband. The last thing he needed in his final moments is his wife’s nervous breakdown. To paraphrase Highlander: the last thing he hears shouldn’t be the wailing of a woman.
I would recommend this film to anyone who doesn’t want to die in a nursing home bed, strapped into an adult diaper, in considerable, unrelenting pain. It happens too often. As this film demonstrates, it’s not necessary. Death with informed consent and dignity is possible.
Truly amazing how brave mr Smedley was at the end. Great film!
Fantastic and moving. This has made me think about death in ways I’ve never thought about it. Don’t think I can recall watching something that stirred this much emotion and thought at the same time.
Great film!
I am an American hospice nurse living with a chronic painful illness. I have been aware of Dignitas for quite a while and have also researched the Hemlock Society. I feel fortunate to be able to bring expert palliative care into people’s lives and I know we make the end of life process easier and more comfortable for them. There are, however, a small percentage of patients whose illnesses decline over many years. Alzheimer’s Dementia is one of those illnesses and it is heartbreaking to see how families suffer, especially because there is so little medicine has to offer and the loved one becomes ill from the effects of immobility and changing safety awareness and mental status. It is one thing to watch a Lifetime movie about these illnesses, it is quite another to watch the slow and unpredictable decline by visiting a family in their living room over weeks, months and years. If you know someone in this situation and want to help, offer to sit with the patient so the caregiver can take a break, get to the store or take a walk. Or volunteer for your local hospice and learn more about the subject overall.
I live with a chronic painful illness which is not terminal but which has stolen my quality of life and emotional peace over the 22 years since I was diagnosed. When I can no longer function as a nurse, I may consider Switzerland. I am grateful to know it is there. For now, I have my health care proxy, my DNR and my Five Wishes document to help my sons know what to do. I urge everyone to take the time to write your wishes and discuss them with someone now, Have the conversation with your elderly parents. I promise you it will make the inevitable much easier for everyone.
I wonder if I was in the same situation as these people … That I would do the same, kill myself for a release from life without pain… Hm…
What an excellent and moving documentary. I especially admired the courage of Mrs. Smedley. She had spent 4 decades loving this man and now had to let him go. The temptation to hoard and monopolize every last second that she could share with him must have been overwhelming. Instead, this beautiful, elegant & dignified woman revealed herself to be brave and generous to a fault! She shared her last moments with her husband with the entire world.
I agree that there are many troubling ethical issues engendered by the right to die. There are many medical conditions such as Depression that can be managed though medication and/or therapy. However, should such a person be free to choose not to go that route and to opt out of life? It could be argued that a depressed person is not of sound mind and therefore cannot make the decision to end his/her life. What of a spouse or a parent who cannot bear the thought of continuing to live after losing a partner or a child? Should they be forced to live with unbearable anguish & loneliness because they are not suffering from a debilitating disease?
The real conundrum emerges with the idea of being able to choose to end someone else’s life. This is pertinent to Sir. Pratchett himself. As he was told in Switzerland, a person with advanced Alzheimer’s might not be able to express his will with a clear mind or ingest the poison himself. What provisions can be made for him? The common DNR does not apply here & if he were to prepare a ‘living will’ stating that he wanted to be euthanized at a certain point, would it be legally viable? I can see the legal & ethical muck mire assisted suicide gives rise to.
It is also noteworthy that the families shown in this documentary are all upper class privileged people. Dignitas charges 10,000 pounds for their services. This does not include air travel or accommodations once in Switzerland. Poor, working class & even many middle class people would have difficulty affording to end their life- especially when you factor in the accrued costs of long term illness:possible loss of income of the ‘breadwinner’, loss of income of the partner who must now care for the afflicted person, in-home nursing, medical fees for those uninsured…
The right to die with Dignity is an option reserved for the most affluent members of society. Are we as humans saying that poorer people must suffer and languish in utter misery and despair draining a family of every last cent and incurring a crushing debt load while those of us fortunate enough to afford to travel & to pay Dignitas (and who have lived lives of comparative ease) are more deserving even in death?
I support a person’s right to die with dignity at the time of his/her choosing. The longer society avoids entering into a serious and mindful discussion of assisted suicide AND euthanasia, the greater the potential for abuses, misconduct, misunderstanding and prolonged human suffering.
I agree with you that right now that the right of assisted dying is reserved for those at higher income scale. This should not be the case. Even the most low-income person should have the right of making that decision.
The only problem is, that Dignitas is a private corporation. This is a business for them. Death should never be a business. Any corporation working with assisted dying should either be non-profit, or goverment run. And either way, it should be *strictly* supervised and made sure that every decision is sound and clear.
As I said in my earlier comment, a very clear ethical line should be drawn up, to make sure that no death occurs when it does not have to.
Dignitas IS non-profit, you only need to spend 2 minutes of researching in order to figure that one out.
Deepest apologies. I admit I did not research before posting that comment, should really start doing that.
Mrs. Smedley is not brave. She is just afraid of showing emotin. She isn’t even able to hug her husband while he dies. The Swiss lady does that. All she can do is put a hand on her husbands leg. THAT is the saddest part of the whole film.
If there ever was a moment when to hold your husband than surely when he is dying.
I can’t decide if I’m digusted our if I pity this woman.
Beautiful documentary. Terry Pratchett is one of my absolute favourite authors. Watching this documentary has made me shed a few tears on several occassions, but I have to say, in the end.. I stand behind assisted dying. It is a right of every sane human being, to chose to end their life because of an illness. The only problem would of course be where to draw the line between being sane and not being sane. A depressed 19 year old is obviously not entitled assisted dying, while a 90 year old with MS is. But what about a 40 year old with depression? A lot of thinking has to be done about this subject, before it can be properly implemented.