New Zealanders won’t be able to choose to smoke or grow cannabis, but they can choose when to die. Photo / Getty Images
My father died in the arms of his family.
It sounds kind of romantic, but it wasn’t really.
We knew his death was coming.
Non-operable, non-treatable cancer tends to put up a few red flags.
In his last few days what we didn’t know, was when his moment of death would occur.
Now, with the option legally available for individuals to choose the way in which they die, I’m not sure whether it was something he would have chosen himself.
Possibly, because while he died in the arms of his family, as we moved him on his bed, it was as he suffered what he viewed as a gross indignity.
He could no longer perform the basic act of going to the toilet. So we took care of that for him in this last few days.
And before he slipped into a coma, and we medicated him with heavy drugs, he managed to communicate that he hated the idea.
It was hard to assess his pain though.
He was…
