Please Let My Father Die With Dignity

I’m 33; my father is 69. The only problem I have with this is he has not been alive for some time. Don’t misunderstand me; technically he is alive--his heart beats and his lungs take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide. My father had Alzheimer’s disease and the disease has brought to my attention a serious problem.

In order for you to understand my problem, you need to know a little about my father. In my opinion, and I admit I may be prejudiced, my dad was probably the most successful man I ever met; not by society’s standards--he’s not famous, he did not make a lot of money, he was just one of the millions of us who got up in the morning and went to work, worked hard all day, and came home at night. He had a wife and three sons he loved very much, and he spent his life devoted to making them feel happy and loved. My father was a true outdoors man; he loved to camp, hike, and fish. In nature he could see and feel the magnificence of God.

My father has been in bed for several years, unable to enjoy his family and nature. Complications associated with his disease have brought him to the brink of death a couple of times; the medical profession has managed to pull him through each time.

My dilemma can be simply explained, but, it appears, impossible to resolve under current law and medical practice. My father is unable to do anything except lie in a bed with tubes in his nose. He has no chance of recovering and yet when he is about to die the medical profession, with almost superhuman acts and technological wizardry, manages to save his life. Why? I don’t understand why anyone, including the medical profession, would want my father to “live.”

The medical profession, which is charged with the preservation of life, has interpreted life to mean the pumping of a heart muscle or the electric impulse generated by the brain and in so doing has performed a great disservice to society and mankind. It is my opinion that life is the ability to participate in one’s surroundings. If the medical and legal professions would re-evaluate their misguided and inhuman definitions of life, the world would be a place for the living.

If my father was able to speak, he would agree with me, and he would ask us to please, please let him die with dignity.

COLIN F. VAN GORDER

Temple City