Baby Joseph takes last breath at home (was cause celebre of US right to life groups)

[alp227]

Joseph Maraachli, the terminally ill baby at the centre of a legal and ethical battle, has died at his Windsor, Ont., home.

Baby Joseph, as he affectionately became known, suffered from a degenerative brain disease. He was 20 months old when he died late Tuesday afternoon.

“We want to thank God and everyone else for the support. I don’t think he would have made it that long if there those prayers from all over the world,” Maraachli’s aunt Faith Nader said.

Nader said Joseph was having a hard time breathing during the last two days. He took his last breath just before 5 p.m. Tuesday.

full: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2011/09/28/wdr-baby-joseph.html

[enlightenment]

1. "Let God decide"

Umm - I believe that's what the hospital was suggesting originally. God doesn't perform tracheotomies.

[FirstLight]

2. torture...

that poor little soul didn't deserve to have to live for 20 months trapped in that body. But see, they don't believe in reincarnation, so releasing the soul to transmigrate to the next incarnation was out of the question.

[chaplainM]

4. It's good not to believe in reincarnation

Because it's a load of horseshit.

[BuddhaGirl]

5. then don't believe in it

to each his own, no? :toast:

[xchrom]

3. sigh. nt

[Dorian Gray]

6. This might be unpopular here

but I think that the family has every right to decide in terms of life/end of life decisions for their infant child. I know if mine was sick in such a way, it would be horrendously difficult to let go. I can't blame them for their actions. I understand why the hospital advised them the way it did, but I also understand that the parents loved their child and wanted him in their life as long as possible. It may seem cruel, but it's really difficult to let go, and they must be feeling so much pain right now.

[murphyj87]

7. Luckily.....

At around the age of 60 (22 years before her death), my mother stated her wishes. She was not to be kept alive by machines if she was terminally ill. She was to be given pain meds when required, even if it meant that the use of those meds shortened her life.

When the time came, her wishes were followed, although, to be honest, even without these guidelines, I would have done the same even had she not expressed what she wanted.

Using artificial means to extend the life of someone who is terminally ill for the purposes of those left behind, not the patient involved, is pure selfishness and in no way compassionate or a sign of any love at all.

[silverweb]

8. Absolutely agree.

My dad died at the age of 89-1/2 in June after a very long decline with dementia and relentless physical suffering. The last time he was taken to the hospital, my mother said to please not put him through any more tests or procedures. He passed away peacefully on a gentle morphine cloud, with her by his side.

One family member told me that if she'd taken him to the hospital a few hours earlier, he could still be alive. He was blaming our mother and the doctors for "giving up" and "sitting on their hands" instead of "saving" him.

Now he's not speaking to me because I said that prolonging our father's suffering so that WE wouldn't have to feel so sad was just selfish and wrong. His mind had been gone for years and his body was shutting down system by system. I adored the man and though we all miss him, it was a relief when his suffering finally ended.

I'm only 63, but my kids have their instructions.