Brittany Maynard Takes Medicine To End Life | NBC Nightly News 

Until you have been there don't criticise

People think death is scary? Not being able to die, now that's scary.

As a cancer survivor, no one has the right to ask me to extend my life because of their morality.

The choice to die is very personal and it has nothing to do with other people they aren’t in that position.

What a brave girl. Rest with the angels girl.

It’s not really about choosing to die but choosing to not suffer deeply because of course if the choice was hers she would pick life not just surviving but living

Iam a Stage 3 cancer survivor. Mine was colon cancer. Two surgeries an ileostomy bag then a reversal. Two blood transfusions . Chemo through a port and 8 chemo pills a day and I still could not imagine what she went through. Cancer still scares me SO MUCH. She was SUCH A BRAVE SOUL!!!!!! GOD BLESS HER.❤

You did it your way beautiful lady!

My choice to die is none of anyone's business.

I moved to Oregon 3 years ago. May this never happen to any of us, but If I am ever in Brittany Maynard's position with her level of pain and suffering, I am grateful to live in a state where I will be able to get help from a doctor to end my own life.

Dignity in death is possible. Love this story

poor girl it breaks my heart. made me cry . my brother has cancer and seeing this oh man it's so hard . God bless her soul ameen

The doctor said that asking a physician to be complicit is wrong, well there's an easy solution to that: All the physician should have to do is write a letter confirming the patient has a terminal illness, and then the patient could take that letter to a center that deal specifically in assisted suicides. There are plenty of people who feel comfortable assisting terminally ill people in suicide, and this way the patient wouldn't be asking anyone who _isn't_ comfortable with it. I don't even know why this is a debate. If someone is sick and wants to end their life, then let them do it; it's their life, not yours.

Rest in peace, so sad but she raised such awareness.

What a strong women!! Rest her Beautiful Soul💔💔❤️

We never know how strong we are until being strong is the only choice RIP beautiful courageous woman xx

They crucified poor Dr. Gevorkian, man who was thinking way beyond his generation. Rest In peace Dr. Gevorkian.

I personally think it’s ABSOLUTELY insane that only 5 states allow this. Someone that has terminal cancer (verified by 3 different doctors) and they are competent. It’s absolutely cruel to force people to die in total agony and make their family suffer too when the patient doesn’t want that. I actually remember many years ago when Oregon became the first state legalizing it. I was a CNA in a nursing home in Eugene. I remember I was assigned one day to a middle aged cancer patient. She had the handkerchief covering her head (bald). Anyways I was a new worker there. It was my first time meeting her. I remember she was actually scheduled to get discharged to go home that day. I remember she wanted a shower, and she wanted me to help her look good. I finally found out halfway through helping her that she was going home to die. She was approved for the assisted suicide thing. I had mixed emotions. She was definitely a very competent person. I was so amazed and surprised she wasn’t scared or sad at all. I was scared and sad after hearing about it and I just met her. I’m glad now that I was able to help her die with her family in peace.

I applaud her bravery and strength. I didn't realize this was legal in the states though. The gentleman said about it not being fair to the doctor's needing to prescribe this medication. Isn't along the same lines as signing a DNR? I understand the hippocratic oath and doctor's being all about healing and helping patients. Facing something like this though, I would like the comfort of knowing that that control was in my hands. I watched 2 loved ones die from cancer, their final weeks and days without an ounce of life left in them, just a shell of their former selves. No one deserves nor needs to live like that, with that kind of pain. Having this option more widely available gives that person that peace of mind and the ability to plan things in their own way. Teaching us all to live in and enjoy this very moment in our lives. One moment, one day at a time.

This is truly heartbreaking, I never want to see someone suffering from any health problems . Yes I agree that people should be able to end their lives if the pain is to much . We have to do better and let people die with dignity. Once they are gone, please celebrate their amazing life’s!!!!!

God Bless her and the people who got behind her and lovingly supported her choice❤️

I support her decision, bless her and her family, you have no understanding until you have lost your quality of life. Life is not worthwhile with zero quality. When life is pure pain, it's also pain for everyone that loves you to watch you suffer; and people always say the final stages of watching some die from cancer are the worst. She had no choice with her death, all she could do was shorten the suffering and maintain dignity. God bless her and her wonderful family. I support her decision 10 fold, no questions asked. It's her life not yours. If you were in her situation and wishes to be in a coma or on heavy doses of morphine in hospital for months until you slip away that is your choice, too.

Euthanasia in Canada in its legal voluntary form is called medical assistance in dying and became legal along with assisted suicide as of June 2016 to end the suffering of terminally ill adults. USA it's the 21st century. Other countries have made changes your turn to do the same on the Federal level

Wonderful courageous woman. Beautiful lady.

I thank God that in Canada we have access to MAID (medical assistance in dying). As a Nurse in Palliative care, I've witnessed so much suffering and gruesome deaths, which didn't need to happen at all! Access to MAID is a multi step process, and not everyone gets permission to do it, so it's not as easy as people think. For instance, if you have Dementia, you are disqualified. The patient must be of sound mind and have an irreversible disease, which is a death sentence. The lady in the video advocating for Brittany to "hold on a bit longer" was insulting! It's not up to an advocacy group how I live my life or how I die! Enough already!!

This story really stayed with me and influenced my views on this. I don't think it's a choice I could make for myself but I can't deny someone else's suffering. Glioblastoma is one of the cruelest diseases that exists.

I had stage 4 cancer and I'm a survivor

I support her decision my heart and prayers goes out to her and the family.

May she rest in peace. May God bless her family and her love ones ❤

I'd rather die on my terms, I wouldn't want to suffer & I definitely wouldn't want my children & family to see me suffer. If I had a terminal illness & was given the option of dying a slow, painful death or taking a pill to let me die peacefully in my sleep, I know what option I'd choose.

Brittany was a very brave girl. It is what I would wish to do also if I were in her situation, and I wouldn't want anyone to interfere with my choice! RIP, Brittany, you did good! Bless you. (At 2:08 someone is asking Brittany "to stay with us as long as possible" -- well, she did. Do NOT ask that selfishly of another person just because YOU want them to stay. You have no choice in the matter, it is NOT your business. It is her business and hers alone.) Would you rather someone you love get a drug off the street which could be tainted and botch the attempt, or get it from a medical source? Be honest about answering that!

Strong in life..what an example of strength

Brave - those who disagree with her are not in her shoes. Nothing more need be said.

It was her life. No one should interfere from the outside. Brittany's family and Brittany know what is best. My mother had a brain tumor, she had multiple seizures and finally those seizures paralyzed her left side, and I took care of her, no nurse, and very little family to help me. Then she went to Hospice and passed away. I was so beside myself and i still remember those days of how ill she was. My mother and father are in heaven, just like Brittany. I would like to say something to Brittany's family. Our family members gone from this life are waiti ng for us in the next life. This is a test for all humanity to learn from what we have experienced. There is good, there is evil. The good will out weigh the evil. You will see Brittany again, trust me i know. I have experienced whats beyond this life. What people call angels are figures that you really cant make out when they reach out to you to let you know your mom will be ok. I have faith and God still wants me here until its time to go. Life is about choices, Brittany made a choice, an un selfish choice. She was brave and courageous and she is beautiful. Remember, she probably wouldn't had the courage to pass away on her own terms, if it wasn't for your love. 🤗🤗🤗🤗

RIP Queen

It’s funny that the same overzealous Christians that will judge people like Brittney, will have no problems having a pet put to sleep to avoid their suffering.

I am a pro-life Christian and would never have agreed with doctor assisited dying. That is, however, until I was diagnosed with MDS-AML Leukemia. Both The progression of the disease, and the treatments are all torture, with no chance of survival. I do not believe that a loving God tortures His children to death slowly. In Biblical Hebrew it says: “ He bore our sicknesses and diseases”, as the sacrificial lamb. I am not the sacrificial lamb, therefore, if a medicine is available to allow someone to die, who is dying anyway, I regard it as God’s mercy.

When you love your pets our furry friends and there time is up and it's time for them to sleep and not suffer why should it be any different for our loved ones harder to accept I know but their decision

Rest in peace 🕊⚘🌻

You are so strong and courageous! RIP!

Dang, i wish i could do that legally. We have no freedom in this country. I shouldnt have to have any reason other than its my decision.

Sorry to hear about Brittany very sad

Doctors already aid in the end of life. What do you think happens when a family asks to have the life support system turned off?

The pain is very severe u cannot imagine

You'd put a suffering animal down cause it's humane...only doctor's and law makers fight to keep terminally ill patients alive cause it makes them richer...I'm so glad for death with dignity ....

I support her decision

Brittany was to be admired! It should be all people's choices!!!!!!!!! I believe in the Right to Die! Whose life is it anyway?

RIP young lady

I also Would Want the right to Die with with dignity and on my own terms If It EVER Come to.it, R.I.P BRIT ❤💔

strong woman

what a strong buitiful person,god bless her soul

I want to die too. I'm suffering and there's no way out for me. I've tried the most things but nothing helps. I've no family, or friends or anyone that can support me. I want to die in piece.

I always thought about the people who end their own lives are the bravest ones...I also want it but i don't have the same courage ...

Brittany your beautiful what a great smile you will always be remembered I know your out there somewhere in the sky with family!! RIP

She took control of her own life.

I don't think anyone can judge her. you can have your views on assisted suicide, but there is nothing that can describe what it feels like to have a loved one suffering from a terminal illness. I've had too many loved ones taken away by cancer. The latest? A family friend. Losing him doesn't hurt as much as the fact that I never got to say goodbye. I have so much I want to say to him: how much I love him, how amazing of a person he's been, but I can't do that. He did not choose assisted suicide, but if he had I would have supported it (no matter what choice he made) Please don;t judge patients who choose assisted suicide. Watching it is one thing. Having to make such a choice is another.

IMO this decision is personal and should be an option for everyone! I personally, if ever diagnosed with a terminal illness, would not want to be kept alive if I had no quality of life! I feel this should be 100% up to the patient and his/her family.

The worst nursing experiences are when they have to revive the dying patients and force them to stay alive suffering when it would be just more humane to let them go.

My father who was diagnosed with cancer quite a few years ago, fought hard for life and won many battles against cancer but the cancer always came back more severe than the time before; he had the choice to continue with chemo or not and he chose not to and it's not because he was done with life he wanted to enjoy the time he had left with his family over being constantly sick and exhausted. My other father was against this because he wanted those extra 6 months, we all did but it was my father choice, he was the one going through it while we did our to be there for him and we all enjoyed and lived those final months (best memories I have of him are during those mo ths) however towards the end, well I wish he had this choice. First week he was ill and tired but still lucid, knew everyone, remembered memories, knew how to make food. Second week he didn't know who I was, who anyone was, traced patterns on the carpet, needed help to go to bathroom and by the end of the second week he couldn't get off the couch, slept all time, lost so much weight he was literally skin and bones, made horrible noises that I wish I could I forget, every breath was a deep breath until the start of the 3rd week when he look his final breath in the middle of the night. Hospice was there pumping pain medication into his system to make him "comfortable" but I'm sorry, that last week of his life he was in nothing but horrible pain. If my father had this choice, if he knew this existed, that first week, he would've took it. I know this video was posted years ago but it just came to my recommendation list and I just want to say she is so brave, her husband and her family are brave. May she be in peace.

We all should have that right. My heart goes out to her family. She made a point that when she starts getting the seizures, she wouldn't be able to make her own decisions.

I so believe in the choice to die. Religion, fanatics, would rather see suffering. Like our dogs and cats we put to sleep when they suffer, I think the right to die is so important. Brittany is a pioneer and heroine. So glad she didn't suffer any longer. I've seen friends with her diagnosis suffer HORRORS/ WHY? for religion? Doctors?

So so brave , to take your own life . God bless her 🙏

We legally euthanise people in hospitals hourly. It’s just called conservative care. Make comfortable increase drugs so much it causes internal organs to shut down and the lungs to flood with fluid then the heart stops. But the patient at this stage has suffered so much pain and losing control of their body and mind it’s slowly watching someone wither away before your eyes. I’ve seen it more times than I care to mention. We don’t make our pets suffer like that and we have been responsible for all our decisions during your lives so why do strangers have the right to speak about morality and life when it is not their life they are discussing not their pain not their death.

so the BIG medical field wants more money off of suffering..... they're saying NO for a reason. It's money

And one other thing, you will put your animal to sleep because they're sick and in pain, to make them have rest so they're no longer in pain. But we make our mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and children suffer because WE don't want them to go ,iTs so selfish. !!!!

We live the way we want; we should be able to die the way we want. Not everyone has the choice but each should be allowed to decide when they have the time to choose

Rest in peace

Nobody experiences death. You only experience life. She was so brave. She will be my hero forever.

I agree 100% It is their life we are not the ones with the cancer and I'm sure probly hurts horribly everybody should be able to make their own decision if they are going to suffer at the end of life 🙏

I've instructed my husband that if something happens to me health wise, if I can't talk, breath on my own or physically take care of myself anymore, he is to end my life. My brother died with ALS it I'll be four years this October. My sister died with brain/ colon cancer. They both suffered horribly. But they died at home in their own beds. They got their wishes. My aunt died at home with brain colon cancer. It was their God given right to die as they wanted. No one should try to stop anyone who is terminal who want the pain to subside. I should be so lucky having the choice to end my life.

RIP

It may not be for you, but people that are ill and want to should have that right, I have multiple sclerosis ,and I know what's going to happen and how I'm going to die. . I was a caregiver my last client died of end-stage multiple sclerosis. !! my grandfather had it... so I know what I'm headed for, if I wanted to I take my own life? I should have that right. !!

GOD BLESS YOU I'M SO SORRY AND HAPPY ALL AT THE SAME TIME YOU WILL START A NEW TREND I HOPE AND I KNOW YOUR IN HEAVEN LOOKING DOWN WITH THAT BEUTIFUL SMILE...

God bless you! You were able to chose your destiny. You didn't want to suffer and I respect you so much and God bless your family left behind.

I pray to god that nobody and their family have to make this decision ever!!!

Look my mom has dementia and I know in my heart that she would want to be remembered by who she was not who she is today. But this young lady is an elderly person and she has the right to leave with her dignity. No one wants to be remembered by their illness, rather who they were prior to the illness changing who they are. You don't have to agree, but you do need to respect her decision and understand her situation.

Kudos to her!

Love and Light, Brittany. See you in the next place.

If someone tells me I can’t die if I choose too, I’ll take them with me

We are all going to die; do we have to suffer also?

To pass away with dignity is good, especially in cases like this. I applaud her and support her decision. If this bothers you, then you need to focus more on yourself and less on other people.

She was a gorgeous woman. Rip.

This subject was discussed several times with my both my family of birth and my husband. In fact, in much the same vein, whenever my mum was in the hospital during the last number of years of her life, she had a D. N. R. (Do Not Resuscitate) order above her bed. At the time, that was the best that we could do as the death with dignity ie. assisted suicide was not yet legal here. When her time came, she had had 2 surgeries in the 1 day. We had been told the 2nd one would be rescheduled to the following day. Next thing I know is my dad calling me at about 1:00 a.m. telling me that mum had had the 2nd surgery, come out of it was talking to 1 of the doctors and suddenly stopped breathing. It took them 12 minutes or longer to bring her back. She was then put on life support which she did not want. They wanted to see us before we went in to see her for the talk. We were told she likely wouldn’t make it and did we know what her wishes were. We were we had to leave her on life support until the next day. We asked why, if we knew that wasn’t what she wanted, no extraordinary measures, etc. They replied that they had seen miracles happen. It was more like a cover their backsides. She started seizing during the night and we knew we had to make the decision. We were there for a number of hours after the machines except oxygen were turned off. She struggled to stay alive as long as we were there and I got very worried about my dad as I knew he hadn’t eaten in quite some time. We told mum we would be back and that we were just going to grab a quick bite. We had to go en mass as my dad would not go if we didn’t all go. About 20 min. after we left, we got a phone call from the hospital saying that she had passed away. We had just been seated at our table and received our water at the time and dad said he didn’t know what to do. I told him I did, because if we just got up and walked out Mum would haunt us. I then told everyone I no longer needed a menu as I now knew what I was going to have and they said what. The turkey dinner as it was her favourite. When our server came back for our orders, she/he received 5 orders for turkey. I don’t think any of us tasted a darn thing, but, so it goes.

Does it hurt that’s the only thing stopping from suicide is physical pain

The bottom line is ~Its her choice to end her life🙏she was the one dealing with cancer...my prayers goes out

RIP Brittany 🙏

Rest in peace Brittany Maynard, you made the right choice.🙏😓🌹🫶🙏

Rest in peace Brittany so incredibly Brave all way thru and especially at the end x

I think we should respect everyone’s choice on how they want to die. ESPECIALLY for someone suffering from a terminal illness.

the discussion shouldnt be about ending life, it should be about destroying cancer once and for all.

That is so sad

I've had this conversation with friends and family. If I were to ever get sick enough this would for sure be my plan.

Sorry for your loss.

This is very sad 😢

If given the chose to die me myself l rather be able to die with dignity on my own terms then be in pain and linger days maybe even weeks in a hospital running up huge bills and causing further grief for my love ones. I totally understand Brittany's choice.

Anyone living with chronic pain and no cure has the right to make the choice to end life.... Psin is not living especially if you can’t work you will die in the street of starvation anyway with no money.... RIP

We live to die. Death is part of life. We will all die one way or another, tomorrow, next week, next year, in 20 years....nobody ever knows exactly for sure. I'm not worried about myself or a loved one dying because the spirit and memories live on. What I worry most about is dying in pain and suffering. I prayed for my mum to pass because she was suffering in pain, to which we were helpless. It was a big relief when she eventually slept on and joined my father who luckily died peacefully, years earlier. 9 years on and I just close my eyes, day dream and spend time with her in my head all i want. She's only just not physically here and we'll meet again at some point anyways, so I'm all good. I pray we all get the strength to face and accept death with courage, when it does come our way.

Religious people please stop interfering with people's life. We all have a free will and what you do with that it's nobody's business and I am sure whatever God you believe he has no problem with that too. Why pain and suffer when you have choice to stop I don't understand you people. life is already hard enough and you have no idea how painful this thing is stop judging people.

Where can I get the pill?

If I was going to die anyway I would take that pill I cant handle pain or suffering