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omonatheydidBy Kim Jong-chan
“I could not watch my wife suffering any longer from the pain. What I hoped was that she will go to heaven and breathe comfortably without a respirator,” a farmer in his 80s said.
His wife died after he disconnected the respirator. She had suffered from lung cancer for the past six years.
The 83-year-old man, only identified by his surname Shim, cut the respirator’s hose with a knife he carried on May 5 at Chonbuk National University Hospital’s intensive care unit as his 77-year-old wife, who was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer, lost consciousness. After a nurse at the hospital reported the incident to police, the man was apprehended at the scene.
During questioning next day, Shim shed tears. “I wanted to take her to my house as she remained in a vegetative state and suffered from pain. I could not help but (disconnect the respirator) as the hospital did not allow me to do it,” he was quoted as saying by a police officer.
She had received inpatient or outpatient treatment for lung cancer for the past years. She was hospitalized again on April 27. On May 4, she was moved to the hospital’s intensive care unit after undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation as her heart stopped beating. During this year alone, she was taken to the hospital by ambulance six times.
The couple lived in conjugal harmony. But Shim and other family members had hard times as they cared for her for a long time. Medical expenses for the wife snowballed. As a result, debts increased. At the intensive care unit on May 5, Shim kept silent for a while, looking at his ailing wife. But he suddenly took out a knife. A son and other family members were beside the wife, but failed to prevent the husband from disconnecting the respirator. Before the incident, the husband had an argument with hospital officials. Shim told them that he will have his wife discharge from the hospital. But they objected to it.
A spokesman of the hospital recalled that in 2001, a doctor of the Boramae Hospital in Seoul discharged a patient, who allegedly had no chance of being revived, from the hospital. But the doctor was found guilty of assisting a murder. During questioning, Shim said he thought it was better for his wife to die comfortably than prolong her life artificially since there was no chance of revival. “This was my last gift for her.”
Police indicted the husband on charges of murder without detention in consideration of his old age. The incident is expected to reignite debate on the issue of death with dignity. In 2008, family members of a 76-year-old woman filed with the authorities a lawsuit, urging Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital to remove equipment to prolong her life from the woman who was in a vegetative state. The family won the lawsuit.
Source: koreatimes
“I could not watch my wife suffering any longer from the pain. What I hoped was that she will go to heaven and breathe comfortably without a respirator,” a farmer in his 80s said.
His wife died after he disconnected the respirator. She had suffered from lung cancer for the past six years.
The 83-year-old man, only identified by his surname Shim, cut the respirator’s hose with a knife he carried on May 5 at Chonbuk National University Hospital’s intensive care unit as his 77-year-old wife, who was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer, lost consciousness. After a nurse at the hospital reported the incident to police, the man was apprehended at the scene.
During questioning next day, Shim shed tears. “I wanted to take her to my house as she remained in a vegetative state and suffered from pain. I could not help but (disconnect the respirator) as the hospital did not allow me to do it,” he was quoted as saying by a police officer.
She had received inpatient or outpatient treatment for lung cancer for the past years. She was hospitalized again on April 27. On May 4, she was moved to the hospital’s intensive care unit after undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation as her heart stopped beating. During this year alone, she was taken to the hospital by ambulance six times.
The couple lived in conjugal harmony. But Shim and other family members had hard times as they cared for her for a long time. Medical expenses for the wife snowballed. As a result, debts increased. At the intensive care unit on May 5, Shim kept silent for a while, looking at his ailing wife. But he suddenly took out a knife. A son and other family members were beside the wife, but failed to prevent the husband from disconnecting the respirator. Before the incident, the husband had an argument with hospital officials. Shim told them that he will have his wife discharge from the hospital. But they objected to it.
A spokesman of the hospital recalled that in 2001, a doctor of the Boramae Hospital in Seoul discharged a patient, who allegedly had no chance of being revived, from the hospital. But the doctor was found guilty of assisting a murder. During questioning, Shim said he thought it was better for his wife to die comfortably than prolong her life artificially since there was no chance of revival. “This was my last gift for her.”
Police indicted the husband on charges of murder without detention in consideration of his old age. The incident is expected to reignite debate on the issue of death with dignity. In 2008, family members of a 76-year-old woman filed with the authorities a lawsuit, urging Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital to remove equipment to prolong her life from the woman who was in a vegetative state. The family won the lawsuit.
Source: koreatimes
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no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 10:38 am (UTC)But reminds me of that american case of a woman who was fed through a tube in a hosital because she couldn't live normal anymore. Basicly their family didn't want her to die even through she was living as a plant.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 10:44 am (UTC)I can understand why they're reluctant but letting people suffer like this is not a solution.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 05:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 10:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 10:56 am (UTC)Personally though, I think any case of euthanasia is just as important as a rape case. One at a time, my father use to say.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 10:58 am (UTC)If she was in a vegetative state, what life is left to enjoy? I'm assuming it would be like living in hell, except before death.
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Date: 2012-05-08 11:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 11:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-09 02:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 11:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 11:32 am (UTC)Truth is, I only knew 2 or 3 atheists in my life.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 11:44 am (UTC)My country is a laïc one so religions have no impact on law and I believe it should be the case evrywhere.
Allowing euthanasia, with strict requirement, doesn't mean that every one has to do it. Believer, like yourself could choose not to, but others would have the opportunity to decide for themselves
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 11:19 am (UTC)They did not inject her with chemicals to end her pain. They took no extraordinary measures to end her life. Her husband cut the tube and let nature take its course. If she were to survive, she would have survived. The machine was holding her back from the God, in my eyes.
My family did not hesitate to turn off life support for my Grandpa when they said he was brain dead. He was not coming back to us. He would have just laid there for who knows how long because some machine was pumping air into his lungs. It was the humane thing to do, and what he had told us he wanted.
ETA: Well, it is considered passive euthanasia, but I have never heard any hospitals (in the USA, no idea about Korea or others) denying a DNR unless there is a familial conflict (Terry Schiavo).
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 11:40 am (UTC)Seriously, I'd be pissed off if a family member just took the action with their own hands without consulting us first.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 11:44 am (UTC)But in this man's case, it seems like he was not getting any help whatsoever, so I sympathize with him.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 03:46 pm (UTC)I'm agnostic by the way, but not trying to start anything. I genuinely want to know your thoughts on that part of the subject.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 11:44 pm (UTC)Basically, it's like this. My faith taught me the existence of life after death a.k.a heaven & hell. If my good actions in the living world is heavier than my sins, I'll go to heaven. If vice versa, I'll go to hell.
Unfortunately to me, my life is not mine. It's belongs to my master and creator, God Almighty. He gave me the responsibility to take care of it, meaning I'll have to protect it with any means necessary.
Deliberately endangering my life (in hope of death) is a sin, since it contradict the responsibility God gave me.
Letting someone else die without trying to help him is also a sin.
Taking my own life (suicide) or someone else's life (murder) is pretty much a one way ticket to hell, since it's one of the gravest sins of all.
Keeping someone alive through artificial means (because of an illness) is good because it means you're protecting that life God gave you. Disconnecting it, however, is a decision that must be agreed by health care professionals. Taking the action with your own hands counts as murder (in my eyes, at least).
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 10:44 am (UTC)I hope the man's wife rest in peace. I also pray that he & his family will stay strong with his wife's passing.
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Date: 2012-05-08 10:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 10:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 11:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 11:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 11:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 01:14 pm (UTC)In my humble opinion, she was suffering, living her life in a vegetative state, I see why he did it. Forgive me for sounding harsh, but if you look at it from another perspective, that mashine could be used to save another person. I am not trying to belittle anyone's life, just, thinking more cold as someone in the medicine field. I was under the impression that, for cases like this, the doctors ask the relatives what they would like to do.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 03:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 02:11 pm (UTC)I wonder if it's possible in SK to fill a document (I don't know how to call it) where you state that you don't want to be artificially kept alive. This exists in my country but I don't know about other countries.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 03:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 03:13 pm (UTC)If she didnt tho as her next of kin i really think while the way he choose to end her life was poor but i believe it was his decision to make. If it was clearly going to taker her life why make her suffer when you know what the end result will be? clearly he did it not out of malice but love and trying to honor her. I think if there is a proper channel to go through to end her life he should have but he was clearly distressed about his wifes state so it makes it more confusing what to do about it but i dont think he deserves to be charged with murder at all.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 03:17 pm (UTC)I'd have to say though, if it were me, I may want such a legal process. If someone is going to pull the plug, I'd want to make sure it's the right person doing it for the right reasons with all the right information and doing it based on my wishes, not their own. I can't think of any other way to ensure this other than bringing it to court...
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 03:49 pm (UTC)That said, if they class it as murder, then poor him :/ maybe he'd have more of a case if they'd discussed it beforehand ('if there's no chance, take me off life support') and had it in writing, but even so, if they say euthanasia is murder, he doesn't stand much of a chance. Poor guy.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 05:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 06:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-08 06:55 pm (UTC)I guess he/she must have thought it was the right thing to do :(
no subject
Date: 2012-05-09 04:01 am (UTC)