Saturday, July 17, 2010

Here's Why We Should Always Err On The Side Of Life


Here’s why we should never, ever, assume people in persistent unresponsive states are “brain dead,” or to use a common epithet, “vegetables.” Just before Richard Rudd’s ventilator was turned off, a doctor checked one more time. Guess what, Richard was very much alive and able to communicate.
Blink, and you live – doctors' message to man in a coma
Richard Rudd and his father at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridgeshire. Photograph: BBC Wales/Rudd family
A man who was left paralysed and seemingly unable to communicate following a traffic accident was saved from having his life support machine turned off when he managed to blink three times to tell doctors that he did not want to die. more

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