A NURSE FROM
THE UK DECIDED TO GO TO SWITZERLAND IN ORDER TO DO
DOCTOR ASSISTED SUICIDE, EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS EXTREMELY
HEALTHY.
GILL PHARAOH IS HER NAME, AND SHE ADMITTED THAT SHE
WAS HEALTHY, BUT WORKING IN AN OLD FOLKS HOME, SHE WAS WORRIED
ABOUT GETTING OLDER, AND AILMENTS, AND HAVING TO BE CARED
FOR BY HER CHILDREN, SO SHE
DECIDED SHE WAS GOING TO PREEMPT THIS AND GO TO SWITZERLAND
TO
GET ASSISTED SUICIDE.
HERE IS HOW SHE EXPLAINED HER DECISION.
SO
SHE IS VERY FEARFUL, OR WAS VERY FEARFUL OF BEING DEPENDENT
ON OTHER PEOPLE.
THE TASK IS COMPLETED?
YES, SHE'S ALREADY ENDED HER LIFE.
SO, THIS STORY IS KIND OF DIFFICULT TO REPORT ON, BECAUSE
IT IS A HEALTHY PERSON WHO ESSENTIALLY COMMITTED SUICIDE.
HOW OLD IS SHE?
SEVENTY YEARS OLD.
SO SHE LIVED A LONG LIFE, AND IT IS HER
DECISION, AND ULTIMATELY I BELIEVE IN INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY,
AND IF YOU DO CHOOSE TO DO THAT,
YOU CAN CHOOSE TO DO THAT.
WHO IS THE GOVERNMENT TO TELL YOU WHAT
YOU CAN AND CANNOT DO IN THAT CASE.
AND, BY THE WAY, HER FAMILY WAS VERY SUPPORTIVE EVEN THOUGH
HER DAUGHTER HAD TROUBLE COMING TO GRIPS WITH IT.
I RESPECT THE DECISION OF NOT WANTING TO OLD, AND IF THAT
IS A REAL FEAR OF SOMEONE THEN I SUPPOSE THEY SHOULD HAVE
THE RIGHT TO DO THAT.
IT IS TRICKY IF THE STATE IS INVOLVED, I DON'T LIKE THE
STATE INVOLVEMENT.
I GUESS IN SWITZERLAND YOU CAN DO IT AND THE STATE WON'T
PROSECUTE THE DOCTOR FOR IT, I DON'T KNOW THE LAW.
THEY HAVE SUICIDE CLINICS IN SWITZERLAND, WHICH I WAS
COMPLETELY UNAWARE OF UNTIL THIS STORY CAME ABOUT.
I GET IT, BECAUSE, FIRST OF ALL YOU DON'T NEED A TERMINAL
ILLNESS, ALL SHE HAD WAS SOME ISSUES WITH HER BACK.
JESUS CHRIST, I WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD AT 41.
I DON'T KNOW,
IT SUGGESTS SUCH A STRONG, POWERFUL, PSYCHOLOGICAL FEAR OF
GETTING OLD THAT YOU'D LIKE TO THINK THAT THERE WAS AT LEAST A
PROCESS BY WHICH, IT'S HARDER TO DO.
LIKE, YOU GOTTA TALK TO DOCTORS, YOU GOT TALK TO
THERAPISTS, YOU GOTTA TALK TO YOUR KIDS AND THEY'RE LIKE, LOOK
MOM, IF YOU BREAK YOUR HIP I'LL TAKE YOU TO SWITZERLAND
THEN, BUT YOU MAY NOT BREAK A HIP FOR SIX YEARS.
I KNOW, I THINK ABOUT MY OWN PARENTS AND IF THEY WANTED TO DO
SOMETHING LIKE THIS, I JUST WOULD NOT LET IT HAPPEN.
IT'S CRAZY,
WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR OWN FAMILY, YOU HAVE YOUR HUGE BIAS
THERE, SO ALL LOGIC IS THROWN OUT THE WINDOW.
IF IíM THIS
EMOTIONLESS, LOGICAL PERSON, THEN I'LL SAY, YEAH, THIS IS TOTALLY
FINE.
THIS IS YOUR LIFE AND YOUR BODY, AND YOU SHOULD BE ABLE
TO DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WHEN I THINK
ABOUT MY OWN FAMILY, I WOULD DO ANYTHING TO STOP MY PARENTS FROM
MAKING A DECISION LIKE THIS.
WHEN IT COMES TO MY OWN LIFE, I
DON'T KNOW.
ONE OF MY BIGGEST FEARS IS GROWING OLD, I DON'T
WANT TO BE DEPENDENT ON SOMEONE, I BELIEVE IN QUALITY OF LIFE AS
OPPOSED TO QUANTITY OF YEARS.
THIS IS A DIFFICULT STORY, BUT I
WILL SAY THAT ULTIMATELY IT WAS HER DECISION, AND SHE HAS A
RIGHT TO DO IT.
I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO BEING DEPENDENT ON SOMEONE.
YOU ARE THE WORST.
WHENEVER I WANT, YOU GOTTA GO GET IT BECAUSE I CAN'T GET
IT MYSELF.
WHAT IF SOMEONE HAS TO WIPE YOU AFTER YOU USE THE BATHROOM?
ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT?
NO, I'M NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT, BUT, I CAN'T GET OUT OF BED,
YOU GOTTA GET ME A SANDWICH.
COULD BE WORSE.
I DON'T KNOW
HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS, I GOT SOME GRIEF AND WE DID A SIMILAR
STORY BECAUSE THAT GIRL ñ
VIDEO BUFFERING ñ
I WAS REALLY BOTHERED BY THE DECISION OF A SUICIDE AT ALL,
AND THEN UNCOMFORTABLE BECAUSE
PEOPLE CAN GET BETTER.
IT WOULD ALLOW PEOPLE AT THEIR WORST TO
MAKE A FINAL DECISION, BUT I HEARD FROM A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO
WERE INCREDIBLY DEPRESSED, I GET THAT.
SORRY TO INTERRUPT, I THINK THERE'S AN INTERESTING QUESTION
ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT A DEPRESSED PERSON IS IN THE RIGHT STATE OF
MIND TO ACTUALLY CONSENT TO SOMETHING LIKE ASSISTED SUICIDE.
THAT'S THE ARGUMENT I WOULD MAKE.
IT IS DIFFERENT TO BE
DEPENDENT ON SOMEONE BECAUSE OF
YOUR PHYSICAL AILMENTS, AND IT IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
STORY WHEN SOMEONE IS NOT IN THE RIGHT EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL
STATE TO MAKE A DECISION LIKE THAT.
IF YOU ARE DEPRESSED, OF COURSE YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE
IN FAVOR OF SUICIDE.
YOU WANT TO EXHAUST ALL YOUR OTHER OPTIONS BEFORE YOU GO
FORWARD WITH SOMETHING LIKE DOCTOR ASSISTED SUICIDE.
SUICIDE IS SUPPOSED TO BE HARD, AND MAKING IT EASY FOR
PEOPLE WHO WANT A WAY OUT WHEN THEY DON'T NEED IT, I DON'T KNOW.
I
DON'T HAVE A FULLY FORMED OPINION ON THIS, BUT WHAT SHE
DID HERE MAKES ME UNCOMFORTABLE.
A HEALTHY PERSON GOING TO A
SUICIDE CLINIC WHEN, AT SEVENTY-FIVE, YOU COULD HAVE
EASILY FIFTEEN PRETTY HEALTHY YEARS LEFT WHERE YOU ARE NOT
DEPENDENT ON SOMEBODY, THAT
BOTHERS ME.
UNCOMFORTABLE THING THAT BOTHERS ME AND I WON'T GO BEYOND THAT.
WE PUT A POLL UP ON THE TYT APP, WE ASKED, "A HEALTHY
SEVENTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD UK NURSE HAS TAKEN HER OWN LIFE AT A
SUICIDE CLINIC BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T WANT TO GET ANY OLDER.
DO YOU SUPPORT HER DECISION?
SIXTY-NINE PERCENT HAVE SAID YES, THIRTY-ONE PERCENT
HAVE SAID NO.
THAT GRAPHIC, MAYBE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CHOSEN A LITTLE
MORE CAREFULLY.