mmalabanan
The 29-year-old American woman suffering from terminal brain cancer, who previously spoke about her right to die, has taken her own life surrounded by family at her home in Portland, Oregon.
Brittany Maynard became controversial after announcing her intentions to take her life under Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act. She and husband Dan Diaz moved from California to Oregon, a state which has a “right-to-die” law.
On Facebook she wrote: “Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love. Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me … but would have taken so much more.”
“The world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher, my close friends and folks are the greatest givers. I even have a ring of support around my bed as I type.
“Goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward!”
Fighting for Right to Die
Diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma, Maynard was only given six months to live by her doctors in January. Because of the aggressive nature of her disease, the experts informed Maynard that she will have a painful death.
“I’ve discussed with many experts how I would die from it and it’s a terrible, terrible way to die. So being able to choose to go with dignity is less terrifying,” she disclosed in an interview with People magazine.
Advocating for right-to-die movement, Maynard released a heart-breaking video which detailed her ordeal and explained why she wanted to die on November 1. The video quickly became viral and earned support as well as criticisms from netizens.
In her second video released last Thursday, Maynard said that she might temporarily delay her death as she was still experiencing “enough joy” to continue her life. However, the delay only took a few days.
She also wished for her husband to move on from her death.
“I hope he moves on and becomes a father. There’s no part of me that wants him to live out the rest of his life just missing his wife.”
Completed Her Bucket List
Her last months were spent travelling Alaska, British Colombia, and Yellowstone National Park.
Before ending her life, Brittany Maynard was able to complete her bucket list last week when she visited the Grand Canyon on October 21.
In her website, she wrote: “The Canyon was breathtakingly beautiful, and I was able to enjoy my time with the two things I love most: my family and nature.”
