Party Vibe

For the first time in Britain, a television channel will, on Wednesday night show a terminally ill man ending his life in a case of assisted suicide.

Craig Ewert, 59, a former professor suffering from a motor neuron disease, died by his own hands at a Swedish clinic on September 30, 2006. But the filming of his death is only being broadcast now, when Britain is in the midst of a debate on assisted suicides.

The country’s television watchdog, Mediawatch-UK has criticised Sky Television’s Real Lives channel for planning to broadcast the film. But Ewert’s wife Mary is firmly supporting the broadcast.

An American by birth, Ewert came to Britain after an early retirement. He was diagnosed with the disease in April 2006 and was told he would not live long. But the disease progressed so quickly that he even needed assistance to breathe.

He consulted his family – the couple has two children – and arranged for his death at Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, the world’s only country where assisted suicide is legal for non-residents. The clinic has helped more than 700 people from 25 countries to die since 1999.

Ewert paid 3,000 pounds ($4,400) to Dignitas for the expenses to cover his death and cremation. In September 2006, Ewert left his North Yorkshire home with wife Mary and arrived at Dignitas. The couple did not want their children to see their father take his own life.

On September 30, Ewert bid a final goodbye to his wife of 37 years. As Mary told him that she loved him, he bit down on a timer to switch off his ventilator and then drank a lethal dose of sodium phenobarbital through a straw. He died 45 minutes later.

The entire sequence is on film, recorded by John Zaritsky, the Oscar-winning Canadian director. He was granted unprecedented access to the right-to-die organisation Dignitas to film Ewert’s last moments. The only time the cameras were switched off was when Mary asked them to withdraw, soon after Ewert’s death, to cry for him in privacy.

http://sify.com/news/international/fullstory.php?id=14815342

Whats everyones views? I just saw a short clip on the news and it was pretty sad, but I still think its down to the individuals choice at the end of the day.