Current mood:

Flattened

Putting this here, because it's not funny, and he's a fandom all his own
Terry Pratchett starts proceedings to end his life

Three and a half years ago, Terry Pratchett, the beloved author of the Discworld series, announced that he has early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Now he's made an even more startling announcement.

Pratchett, who has campaigned in his native United Kingdom for the right of assisted suicide, has begun the formal process of assisted suicide in Switzerland, one of the few countries in the world to legalize euthanasia. Specifically, this would take place at Dignitas, a clinic that provides qualified doctors and nurses to assist with the patients' suicides.

Dignitas has sent Pratchett the paperwork he needs to sign to begin the assisted suicide process—but he has yet to sign it.

According to The Guardian,

"The only thing stopping me [signing them] is that I have made this film and I have a bloody book to finish," he said during a question-and-answer session following a screening at the Sheffield documentary festival Doc/Fest.

He said that he decided to start the process after making the film Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die, which shows the moment of death of a motor neurone sufferer, millionaire hotel owner Peter Smedley.

Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die airs tonight in the United Kingdom, which means the end could be nigh for our literary hero. But the The Guardian wrote that "According to Dignitas, 70% of people who sign the forms do not go through with taking their own lives."

We wish Pratchett the best, no matter what his decision is.

Sir, whatever you choose, I hope it is as you choose and with the dignity you have shown in your life.

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franzen
2011-06-13 05:42 pm UTC (link)

I -- I understand, I think. My mind has always been the most important thing to me and dementia is my number one fear (along with any kind of brain injury). If he comes to a place where he's ready, then the choice should be his. Slate had an article on the topic.

Or in the words of Jonathan Franzen --

After we’d kissed him goodbye and signed the forms that authorized the brain autopsy, after we’d driven through flooding streets, my mother sat down in our kitchen and uncharacteristically accepted my offer of undiluted Jack Daniel’s. “I see now,” she said, “that when you’re dead, you’re really dead.” This was true enough. But, in the slow-motion way of Alzheimer’s, my father wasn’t much deader now than he’d been two hours or two weeks or two months ago. We’d simply lost the last parts out of which we could fashion a living whole. There would be no new memories of him. The only stories we could tell now were the ones we already had.

Alzheimer's is a wrenching experience for both the afflicted and all those close to him. I hope Pratchett's fandom lets him make the choice that he feels is right for him. Though I'm imagining a lot of "SAVE TERRY PRATCHETT" Twitter petitions. :|

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	quantumreality 2011-06-13 05:56 pm UTC (link)
	IAWYC. I've never read his books but I have heard of him over the years and I'm saddened to hear he has Alzheimer's. Hopefully he'll be able to finish out his life well in the time he has left. (Reply to this)(Parent)

chibikaijuu
2011-06-16 07:47 pm UTC (link)

My grandfather has Alzheimer's, and it got a lot worse this January when he caught pneumonia. He still mostly recognizes people, but he can't take care of himself. My grandmother can't take care of him either (for one thing, she's a foot shorter than he is - she had to leave him half on the floor when he fell out of bed, until the ambulance showed up), but even though she's said she'll consider an assisted living center, every time my father or one of his siblings makes an appointment to look at one, she either refuses to go, or drags her feet and then declares that she doesn't like it. (They also live on the opposite coast from us, so Dad flew out there for a while, but can't be there constantly, and he's the oldest child and I think she listens to him the most.)
It's incredibly stressful and I'm not even there. I'm also terrified that my father and my brother will get it at some point (my great-grandfather died of it).

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	trialia 2011-07-01 08:13 pm UTC (link)
	Generally...yes. Most of the devoted Pratchett fans will probably be incredibly saddened by this, but respect that it is his life to do with what he wants. He's been very open and honest with his fandom about this stuff, and I think that's garnered more respect than not. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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