With the End in Mind: Dying, Death, and Wisdom in an Age of Denial

by Kathryn Mannix

The nurse was wise; she knew that reassurance would not help Sabine, and that listening, encouraging, allowing the full depth of her despair and fear to be expressed, was a vital gift at that moment.

No matter that a life was well-lived, that an individual was contented with their achievements and satisfied by their lifetime’s tally of rich experiences: at the end of their life they will be described as having ‘lost their battle’, rather than simply having died.

There is a clear difference between giving a drug at a dose that will suppress breathing, thus killing the patient (illegal in the UK), and giving the same drug at a dose that will suppress breathlessness, thus allowing the patient to be free from distress while their breathing fails (good clinical practice in any jurisdiction).