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naitaka Realistic action figure Joined: 21 Aug 2001 Total posts: 437 Location: Fort Rouille, New France Gender: Unknown |
 Posted: 18-09-2004 14:10 Post subject: |
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Although not mentioned in this account, it was the non-dead man's sister who identified the corpse as her brother. (She was interviewed on TV last night.) I wonder how often bodies are misidentified by distraught family members?
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GO train victim calls during own funeral
Toronto — The family of a Newfoundland man is overjoyed after discovering he hadn't been killed in a train accident after all.
Police in Toronto had identified Dane Squires as the man killed while crossing the track of a Toronto GO train last Friday.
But, during his funeral in Toronto Thursday, Squires called his daughter Trina to report he was alive and well.
The body on the GO tracks had been found without identification, and the family had contacted police to report Squires missing.
Toronto police are saying the dead man remains unidentified, and Squires' family is bewildered.
"We've been mourning in Newfoundland and in Toronto, everywhere in total shock," says Dane's brother Gilbert of St. Philip's, Newfoundland.
"They just loaded Dane's body in the hearse and the funeral director comes and says somebody would like to speak to you on the phone and Dane's daughter Trina took the phone. This was Dane on the phone, so she actually thought that she was dead or talking to a ghost or something and just about lost her mind," he says.
Squires says it's not unusual for his brother, who stays with his sister in Toronto, to visit friends for four or five days and then come back.
His brother didn't realize there was any problem until he read his own obituary in the newspaper.
Squires says his brother is taking his "death" with good humour.
"He said, 'I've got a new name. I haven't decided what it's going to be'. And I said what would that be and he said, 'I'm either going to call myself Lazarus or Jesus.'"
Toronto police are now looking for the true identity of the victim.
They describe the dead man as white, six feet tall, 180 lbs., age 40-45, with receding short brownish red hair, a beard and extensive tartar build up on his teeth.
He was wearing blue nylon track pants and a grey T-shirt when found. |
http://toronto.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=tor_040917 |
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| Mighty_Emperor Divine Wind
Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Total posts: 19943 Location: Mongo Age: 42 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 18-09-2004 14:21 Post subject: |
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naitaka: I moved that to this thread which deals with mishaps involving people being declared prematurely dead as I was just going to post this report here on the same thing:
| Quote: | Nfld. man telephones during own funeral
Last Updated Fri, 17 Sep 2004 22:40:54 EDT
ST. PHILIP'S, NFLD. - The family of a Newfoundland man is overjoyed but looking for answers after he phoned during his own funeral to let them know he hadn't been killed in a Toronto commuter train accident after all.
Gilbert Squires of St. Philip's, Nfld., said he got a call on Sunday afternoon saying his brother Dane had been killed by a train.
Police in Toronto said a sister had identified the retired welder as the man killed while crossing a GO Train track last Friday.
"The body was badly mutilated," said Gilbert. "We've been mourning in Newfoundland and in Toronto, everywhere. We're in total shock."
But during Thursday's funeral in Toronto, Dane Squires called his daughter Trina to report that he was alive and well.
"They [had] just loaded Dane's body in the hearse and the funeral director comes and says, 'Somebody would like to speak to you on the phone,' and Dane's daughter Trina took the phone," said Gilbert Squires.
"This was Dane on the phone, so she actually thought that she was dead or talking to a ghost or something and just about lost her mind."
Squires said it's not unusual for his brother to visit friends in Toronto for four or five days.
Dane Squires didn't realize there was any problem until he read his own obituary in the newspaper, his brother said. Then he called his sister's house to let her know he was alive, and found out his funeral was underway.
After the accident, Toronto police had appealed to the public to assist them in identifying the body.
A spokesperson, Det.-Const. Dave Stirling, told the Toronto Sun that Squires's sister viewed the victim's body and identified it as that of her brother.
"There must have been a likeness," Stirling said. "It certainly is an unfortunate circumstance. It's certainly a shock."
The accident victim's body has now been returned to the coroner's office and police are again trying to identify him. The dead man was between 45 and 50, with a beard and short, reddish-brown hair.
Gilbert Squires said his brother is taking his "death" with good humour.
"He said, 'I've got a new name. I haven't decided what it's going to be.' And I said, 'What would that be?' And he said, 'I'm either going to call myself Lazarus or Jesus.''" |
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/09/17/funeral040917.html |
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| Mighty_Emperor Divine Wind
Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Total posts: 19943 Location: Mongo Age: 42 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 24-09-2004 13:44 Post subject: Unbreakable? |
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| Quote: | Two reported dead actually survived plane crash
Thursday, September 23, 2004 Posted: 0126 GMT (0926 HKT)
KALISPELL, Montana (AP) -- Two people who were reported killed in a plane crash on Monday emerged alive from rugged Montana wilderness Wednesday, authorities said.
The two U.S. Forest Service employees reached a highway after making their way on foot through mountains in northwestern Montana, said Denise Germann, a spokeswoman for the Flathead National Forest.
The pair turned up one day after both the Flathead County sheriff and the Forest Service had announced their deaths. Three others died in the crash.
"Initially we thought there were no survivors, but now there are two," Germann said.
Jodee Hogg, 23, of Billings, and Matthew Ramige, 29, of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, walked away from the crash site and were spotted by a road Wednesday afternoon, Germann said.
Hogg was listed in stable condition at Kalispell Regional Medical Center. Ramige was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for burn treatment.
Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont had said Tuesday that it appeared all five people on board the small plane died on impact. The crash also started a fire.
Jim Long, 60, of Kalispell was piloting the plane. Also on board were Ken Good, 58, of Whitefish, an employee of the Flathead National Forest, and Davita Bryant, 32, of Whitefish.
Hogg, Ramige and Bryant were assigned to the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Station in Fort Collins, Colorado, but worked out of the station's office in Ogden, Utah.
"Can you imagine these families?" asked Bob Bryant, father-in-law of Davita Bryant. "They've been told their kids are dead. And now they are resurrected," he said in an interview with The (Kalispell) Daily Inter Lake.
Linda Woods of Whitefish, a friend of one victim and survivor Ramige, said she had helped organize a group to search for survivors but their offer to help was declined Tuesday.
"There were 100 people waiting in Whitefish to do this. It's possible we could have been very useful and saved some people some suffering," she told the newspaper.
"Last night, we sat on the couch and cried instead of being out hiking and searching. And we just accepted what we were told," she said.
The plane crashed en route to a grass landing strip at Schafer Meadows Guard Station, near the Middle Fork of the Flathead River in the Great Bear-Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.
The four workers aboard the plane intended to conduct an annual vegetation inventory and repair telecommunication facilities, Germann said. |
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/09/22/crash.survivors.ap/index.html |
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| Mighty_Emperor Divine Wind
Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Total posts: 19943 Location: Mongo Age: 42 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 11-10-2004 17:11 Post subject: |
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To be honest I'd probably run away too:
| Quote: | 'Dead' man waking, morgue staff running
October 8, 2004
By Thobani Ngqulunga
Mortuary attendants in Durban were shocked this week when a man, who had been declared dead by paramedics and taken to a government mortuary, suddenly started breathing and woke up in front of them.
Gale Street Mortuary Unit Commander Thegran Moodley said: "The man had been involved in a car accident somewhere in the Umbumbulu area at the weekend. After the paramedics had certified him dead, my staff were called in to fetch the body."
After arriving at the mortuary the attendants had been preparing to label the body when the man had started breathing heavily and had woken up.
"The attendants ran away because they were shocked," said Moodley.
"We called the paramedics to come and attend to this person who had regained life. They took him to King Edward VIII Hospital for treatment."
Hospital staff confirmed last night that a man had been sent to the hospital from the Gale Street mortuary, but refused to give any details.
Moodley said the attendants were being treated for shock. |
http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=283&fArticleId=2253652
| Quote: | DURBAN
Resurrected man in critical condition
Wendy Jasson da Costa
Posted Fri, 08 Oct 2004
A man who shocked hardened Durban policemen after "rising from the dead" a week ago was still in a critical condition at the King Edward hospital on Friday.
Hospital spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya said a social worker had been appointed to trace the family of the man known as Victor Mbatha from AA section in Umlazi.
Sibiya said Mbatha (40), was in a semi-conscious condition in the surgical ward. His right eye was in a bad state and he could not talk.
The head of the police's Gale Street Mortuary Unit, Superintendent Thegran Moodley, told Sapa on Friday the two officers who were on duty the night Mbatha was brought in were having sleepless nights and undergoing psychological treatment after seeing Mbatha rise from the dead "on the stroke of midnight".
Moodley said Mbatha had been involved in a car accident in Umbumbulu Road in Umlazi and was certified dead by paramedics on the scene.
His body was fetched by Inspector Khaya Chiliza who "got the fright of his life" when he opened the van at the mortuary to place a tag on the body and Mbatha started breathing.
Inspector Jay Singh, who was also on duty that night, said he was inside the mortuary when a visibly disturbed Chiliza approached him.
"Chiliza walked up the passage then went back to the van to check again. When he came to me he stuttered, he lit a cigarette then he took off his glasses and on his third attempt he managed to say 'Baba something terrible is happening at the back'," Singh said.
He said he refused to go the van without Chiliza because "it was midnight and I was scared".
Singh said that as they walked out to the back they could hear "heavy breathing from about five to 10 metres away, the victim was sitting up, his fingers and feet were moving and he was staring at us".
Paramedics were called to the mortuary and they took the man to hospital.
Singh said he and Mbatha never spoke about the incident again during their shift but afterwards both of them headed straight to their doctors for treatment.
He said it was impossible to book off sick because the unit was severely short-staffed but he was referred to a psychiatrist because "I have an extra heart beat now because everything puts me on edge and I'm suffering from heart palpitations".
He said he would never forget what happened because it occurred on the stroke of midnight as he was calling his daughter who had just turned 14-years-old.
And his theory on what happened that night: "The vehicle could have taken a heavy bump and started his (Mbatha's) heart beating again because Chiliza had to pick up another body before returning to the mortuary."
Chiliza, who had just returned from a psychiatrist when Sapa spoke to him, said he was "scared of his job and that he was taking medication, but feared that it could make him more mal (mad)".
He said he still could not speak about what happened because "I am very, very bad, and the dreams and the nightmares are terrible. Other people will laugh at this, but although I'm scared I just have to continue with the nature of my duties".
"I feel they should shift us from this."
Moodley said the shortage of staff meant the two inspectors could not book off work.
"We are all messed up and this is just an additional trauma that becomes part of us. These men can't sleep or anything because everywhere they go they see this body in front of them." |
http://iafrica.com/news/sa/352181.htm |
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| graylien Great Old One Location: Norwich - home of the Puppet Man! Age: 42 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 11-10-2004 19:27 Post subject: |
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"Moodley said the shortage of staff meant the two inspectors could not book off work"
Quite right too. We can't have people shirking off work simply because the dead are coming back to life. |
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| Mighty_Emperor Divine Wind
Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Total posts: 19943 Location: Mongo Age: 42 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 11-10-2004 19:34 Post subject: |
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| Emperor wrote: |
To be honest I'd probably run away too
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I was just thinking about this and I possibly wouldn't - I'd be looking aorund for the cameras expecting Jeremy Beadle (or at least one of his more recent inferior prankster imittaors) to jump out of cupboard with a camera crew. This doesn't bode well for people's survival in the early stages of a zombie apocalypse  |
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| Mal_Adjusted Hardware Fault Joined: 06 Aug 2003 Total posts: 1759 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 18-01-2005 11:24 Post subject: Dead woman returns to vote |
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Greets
| Quote: | Dead woman returns to vote
A Romanian family who believed they buried their daughter two years ago were shocked when she came home to vote.
The family from Pildesti, Neamt county, addressed local police when their 22-year-old daughter didn't return home in July 2003.
After a few days of investigation police found a dead body on a river bank and identified her as the missing girl.
Even her father, brother and some neighbours confirmed it was her and they had nothing else to do than take care of her funeral.
One of the relatives told Ziarul daily: "The deceased girl looked very much the same like the missing one: same height, same brown hair, even the haircut was the same and she wore similar clothes. We thought we buried our relative".
But after almost two years from the funeral the dead girl came back home by taxi.
She told her family she went to visit a friend in a remote town and found a job there.
She said she decided to return because she wanted to cast her vote in a poll regarding the revision of the Constitution.
Because she is officially dead the now 24-year-old girl has to wait for a court decision which will confirm she is alive while police are trying to find the real identity of the dead woman.
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http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1249959.html
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| Mighty_Emperor Divine Wind
Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Total posts: 19943 Location: Mongo Age: 42 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 27-01-2005 04:25 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Examiner Finds Man Breathing in Morgue
Jan 26, 4:14 PM (ET)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A medical examiner studying a body in a morgue was startled when the man took a shallow breath. Emergency medical technicians had declared 29-year-old Larry D. Green dead almost two hours earlier, after he was hit by a car.
Medical examiner J.B. Perdue was called to the accident scene Monday but did not examine Green then. Later, he was documenting Green's injuries when he noticed the man was breathing.
"I had to look twice myself just to make sure it was there, that's how subtle it was," Perdue said.
Green, 29, was taken to Duke University Medical Center in Durham, where he was in critical condition Tuesday.
Several members of the Franklin County emergency medical service have been suspended pending an investigation, said Darnell Batton, the county attorney. |
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| Anonymous |
| Posted: 28-01-2005 09:17 Post subject: |
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Something that happened to some relatives of mine seems to fit in with this topic.
My cousin was in a serious car accident about 8 years ago. He was badly injured and a friend of his was killed. Apparently the friend looked quite like him, plus the body was maimed, so his mother and sister identified the body as his. Nobody realised the mistake until my cousin woke up in hospital. |
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| Anome_ Faceless Man
Great Old One Joined: 23 May 2002 Total posts: 5380 Location: Left, and to the back. Age: 45 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 28-01-2005 11:47 Post subject: |
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| Just goes to show how stress can lead anyone to make a mistake. And it won't have made your cousin feel any better, I guess. |
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| Mighty_Emperor Divine Wind
Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Total posts: 19943 Location: Mongo Age: 42 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 02-02-2005 16:46 Post subject: |
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Another followup:
| Quote: | Paramedics punished for declaring man dead
RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) - Paramedics who mistakenly declared an accident victim dead have had their credentials suspended after the man began breathing at the morgue.
Paramedics Wade Kearney II and Paul Kilmer were disciplined Monday for rules violations, according to the state Office of Emergency Medical Service. They are among four paramedics who have been suspended with pay.
Larry Green, 29, was struck by a car Jan. 24 and pronounced dead at the scene. Two hours later, a medical examiner at the morgue saw Green take a shallow breath and realized he was alive. Green remained in critical condition Monday.
State law requires emergency workers to start resuscitation immediately if there is doubt over whether a victim is dead. Neither Kilmer nor Kearney did so, the agency found.
Officials have said none of the paramedics attached Green to an electrocardiogram monitor, which gives an electric reading of the heart. |
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| ENTIANONMULTI Great Old One Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Total posts: 592 Location: Miskatonic University Engineering Department Age: 36 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 02-02-2005 16:49 Post subject: |
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| And too thibnk a cover up would have been so easy... |
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| Mighty_Emperor Divine Wind
Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Total posts: 19943 Location: Mongo Age: 42 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 04-02-2005 03:54 Post subject: |
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I'm usnure where this will go but here is a dead man serving his time and eventually possibly being up for parole:
| Quote: | Beyond bizarre
He may be dead, but he's eligible for parole
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, February 3, 2005
What does it take to get declared dead in California, anyway?
The question isn't as dumb as it may seem. Consider:
A person who is declared brain dead is legally and physiologically dead. "Brain dead" is dead.
By that standard, a Wasco State Prison inmate surely qualifies as being dead. So why is he being treated as alive?
The prisoner, Daniel Provencio, has been at Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield since he was shot in the head with a "foam" bullet by a prison guard Jan. 16. Members of Provencio's family told the Bakersfield Californian that doctors declared him clinically dead the morning of Jan. 20 after tests found no brain activity.
Under California law, the hospital must do two examinations by two different doctors to determine death. If the patient meets all criteria for death on both examinations, this is noted in the medical record at the time of the second exam and is recorded as the time of death. The coroner's office typically is called as soon as death is declared.
Yet Provencio's mother said Wasco Warden P.L. Vazquez expects Provencio to "serve out his sentence" from a hospital bed. The family has asked obvious questions: "If he's dead, why are they keeping him? How does a dead man do time?"
Here's how. Provencio is on a mechanical ventilator and a feeding tube, even though he's dead. And he's shackled to the bed by both ankles, even though he's dead. He's being guarded by prison guards 'round-the-clock at a cost of $1,056-a-day, even though he's dead.
No, we are not making this up. But the absurdities don't end there.
The Department of Corrections apparently now is considering a "compromise" that might allow the dead man to be released on "early parole."
Obviously, this preposterous situation can't go on. The hospital needs to step forward and make a definitive declaration: Is Provencio dead? If yes, what was his time of death, and why hasn't he been released for burial?
Time of death is recorded on a patient's chart as the time he met the criteria of brain death. If he's not dead, who told the family that Provencio is "brain dead," which is dead-dead? Either the family is being denied the right to bury their relative or they have been subjected to a huge hoax.
The absurdities aren't confined to the handling of Provencio's current condition. Consider the chain of events that led to the present situation.
At Wasco State Prison on Jan. 16, two inmates were fighting; Provencio apparently tried to prevent prison guards from intervening.
KGET-TV 17 News reported that the incident was an "alcohol-fueled brawl between inmates." Officers told the station that inmates brew fruit and other food ingredients. A guard shot Provencio in the head, though "foam" bullets are meant to be fired at a person's legs and arms.
Alcohol production and brawls. Shooting inmates in the head. Shackling and guarding a dead inmate. What is going on at this prison? The Department of Corrections needs to get control of this out-of-control institution. And it needs to end the macabre saga of the (apparently) late Daniel Provencio. |
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| Mighty_Emperor Divine Wind
Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Total posts: 19943 Location: Mongo Age: 42 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 15-03-2005 18:12 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Man Mistakenly Deemed Dead Leaves Hospital
Mon Mar 14,11:57 AM ET
LOUISBURG, N.C. - A man who was hit by a car and mistakenly declared dead is out of the hospital and continuing his recovery in a rehabilitation center, relatives said.
Larry Green was hit by a car the night of Jan. 24 as he walked home after buying beer.
Green, 29, was examined on the scene by paramedics and a medical examiner, declared dead and his body taken to a morgue. There, 2 1/2 hours after the accident, the same medical examiner detected signs of life. He was hospitalized.
Family members said Green was released from Duke Hospital late last week and was in a care facility in Wilson. Family friend Abdul Ahmed said his progress has been slow but promising.
Green suffered a severe head injury, broken leg and is paralyzed.
"When you call his name he can understand you want to talk to him, and when he looks at you he knows who you are," Ahmed said.
Two of the four paramedics who treated Green were fired and their credentials suspended, though the credential of one has been reinstated pending an administrative hearing. The other two were ordered to take remedial training. The medical examiner was not disciplined. |
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| Mighty_Emperor Divine Wind
Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Total posts: 19943 Location: Mongo Age: 42 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 20-03-2005 03:35 Post subject: |
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I suspect this fits in here as does the suggestion that it is God doing some nifty raising from the dead.
It was posted on a few sites with interesting headlines (and yes both were in block caps ):
| Quote: | | GOD REJECTS MAN'S SUICIDE! SENDS HIM BACK TO LIVE OUT HIS DAYS AND DIE A NORMAL DEATH |
www.rumormillnews.com
| Quote: | | ETHICAL SUICIDE - 'DEAD' MAN SEES GOD, WAKES ON 3RD DAY |
www.bringemon.org/cgi-bin/bringemon.cgi?read=2034
| Quote: | 'Why am I not dead?'
Friday, March 04, 2005
DON COLBURN
An Estacada man's attempt at doctor-assisted suicide last month took a bizarre turn when he woke from a coma nearly three days later and lived for two more weeks.
David E. Prueitt, 42, who had lung cancer, died at home of natural causes Feb. 15 -- 16 days after he ingested a supposedly lethal dose of medication prescribed by one of his doctors in accordance with Oregon's Death With Dignity Act.
Barbara Coombs Lee, co-president of the assisted-suicide advocacy group Compassion & Choices, confirmed Prueitt's case Thursday after family members went public with details.
"He did take a complete dose and slept soundly for 65 hours," Lee said. "Then he awakened. He suffered no ill effects. He was fully capable and competent -- and surprised."
Prueitt's wife, Lynda Romig Prueitt, recalled that when he woke early Feb. 2, he asked: "What the hell happened? Why am I not dead?"
He survived 13 more days, coherent and alert, she said, before dying of his cancer.
The Prueitt case epitomizes the potential complications surrounding one of the most passionately debated issues in U.S. politics. Doctor-assisted suicide is fraught with medical, legal and ethical controversy. The Bush administration is trying to overturn the Oregon statute, saying it violates federal drug laws. The Supreme Court agreed last month to review the case.
"By any standard, this is a failed attempt," said Dr. Greg Hamilton, a Portland psychiatrist and former president of Physicians for Compassionate Care, a group against assisted suicide.
"That's one of the reasons we oppose assisted suicide. The dying process is prolonged and inhumane, and it's traumatic for the family."
Oregon is the only state in which doctor-assisted suicide is legal. Under Oregon law, a doctor can prescribe a lethal dose of medication to a terminally ill patient of sound mind who makes the request orally and in writing and meets other requirements. The patient must swallow the drug; it cannot be administered.
During the first six years of the Oregon law, 171 people died by doctor-assisted suicide -- about one in 1,000 deaths. Oregon's seventh annual report, with 2004 data, is due out next Thursday.
"We now have our first true complication after more than 200 successful cases" of assisted suicide, said Lee, who helped draft the Oregon law. Her group resulted from the recent merger of Portland-based Compassion in Dying Federation and Denver-based End-of-Life Choices.
During 2001, an assisted-suicide patient took 37 hours to die after ingesting a lethal dose, and in 2003, a patient took 48 hours. But neither regained consciousness.
Unbearable pain
Prueitt first raised the issue of suicide in October, when his pain became unbearable, his wife said. After he threatened to shoot himself, she said, she approached Compassion in Dying of Oregon, a group that helps patients and families who inquire about doctor-assisted suicide.
Prueitt began the formal process of requesting a doctor-assisted suicide in early January and later received a prescription for 100 capsules of Seconal, a type of barbiturate.
On Jan. 30, dressed in a blue T-shirt and lying on a couch in the living room of his Estacada home, Prueitt swallowed the drug overdose, which had been mixed with applesauce and water, and sweetened with Lactulose, an anti-constipation drug.
Among those present were his wife, her mother, a friend and two volunteers from Compassion in Dying of Oregon.
In his weakened, emaciated state -- his weight had dropped from nearly 200 pounds to less than 100 -- Prueitt could barely raise the coffee mug to his lips, his wife said.
Within six minutes of swallowing the drug, he fell into a coma, she said. His breathing became fitful, but he did not die.
After waking up nearly three days later, he remained alert and talkative, she said. He chatted by telephone with his brother Steve and friends. Occasionally, he asked for water or cigarettes.
Compassion in Dying began its investigation as soon as Prueitt awakened, Lee said, and notified state officials immediately. The Oregon Department of Human Services is investigating "every possible cause" of the failed assisted suicide, Lee said, from the medication used to the absorption rate of the applesauce.
Prueitt's experience has divided his family. Janice Davidson, Prueitt's older sister, said she opposes doctor-assisted suicide for religious reasons and was shocked to find out about her brother's attempted suicide.
"I believe that if his family had been notified, David would not have done this," she said. She visited him a few days after he woke up from the drug overdose and described him as coherent.
"If it was an assisted suicide, it wasn't done right."
Prueitt had an up-and-down life. Relatives described him as a proud, hardworking logger who smoked for years. Records show that he served seven years in prison after a rape conviction.
His grown daughter, DeAnndra Rowland, said her father told her in January that he "wanted to go in his sleep." He never mentioned doctor-assisted suicide or the Death With Dignity Act, she said.
Prueitt kept his attempted suicide from most relatives and friends, his wife said, because "he didn't want them to think he was taking the easy way out."
Widow stands behind law
As problematic as her husband's death became, his widow said she still supports the law. "I don't want anybody to get in trouble for this," she said. "Compassion in Dying did their job." She said she voted for President Bush but supports Oregon's law against the administration's legal challenge.
Two days after Prueitt woke up, he told his wife he had been in the presence of God, she said. By her account, Prueitt said God had rejected his death by suicide and sent him back to live out his days and die a natural death.
Steve Prueitt, of Beaverton, David's brother, opposes doctor-assisted suicide for religious reasons and said he thinks his brother was chosen by God as an example of why assisted suicide is wrong.
"God chose David as his spokesman with reference to physician-assisted suicide, absolutely," Steve Prueitt said.
David Prueitt was under home hospice care provided by Providence Hospice. His main hospice nurse was not aware that Prueitt chose assisted suicide until after the attempt, his wife said.
Prueitt was taken by ambulance to Providence Portland Hospital for one night about a week before he died, his wife said. She said she called the hospital because he was having a panic attack and accusing her of trying to kill him. His brother arrived to reassure him that was not the case.
Prueitt was enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan, the state's Medicaid insurance plan for low-income residents, his family said.
Lynda Prueitt said her husband followed the requirements of the law exactly, making two oral requests and one written request of his doctors.
"Oregonians should know that the letter and the spirit of the law were followed in this case," said Lee, of Compassion & Choices. "No medical procedure is 100 percent guaranteed."
But Dr. Kenneth Stevens, vice president of Physicians for Compassionate Care and chairman of the radiation oncology department at Oregon Health & Science University, called Prueitt's death a failed assisted suicide. The most likely reason for such a failure, he said, is that the patient did not consume the complete lethal dose.
"We've always been concerned that the dose would not always be lethal and that there would be complications. In this situation, living is considered a complication." |
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