Irish journalist Nell McCafferty offered to help her former long-term partner, author and journalist Nuala O'Faolain, end her life after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
McCafferty made the revelation in an interview on TV3, the Independent TV station in Ireland.
"I did offer Nuala euthanasia," says McCafferty in the interview. “I said ‘I’ve got morphine in place, I’ve got it stashed around Ireland. The minute you want to overdose, let me know.’"
O’Faolain decided not to accept her former lover’s offer.
"She said ‘no, no, the hospice people will take care of me when the time comes with drugs.’ Nuala held on till the very end."
In the same interview, set to air on Monday in Ireland, McCafferty admits that she is willing to offer any one of her friends who fall ill the option of ending their life option before the pain becomes unbearable.
"It’s the first thing I offer people the minute they’re sick. I say: ‘would you like me to give you an overdose?’ I’m surprised the number of people who insist on living."
McCafferty’s comments comes at a time in the United States when a movie about Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the GP known as Dr. Death, who served eight years in prison for physician assisted suicide, came out on HBO.
When McCafferty was asked if she feared the repercussions of helping someone kill themselves, she had this to say: "But sure who’s going to know?" before adding, "Prove it!"
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.AJCinAustin | May 19, 2010, 04:48 PM EDT
I think offering the gift of a quiet dignified death is the dearest gift one can give. All religious conceits aside, there is no reason to suffer just because of an ancient call to bravery. I myself have a pillow with mymother's name on it, just waiting for her to ask ....
REM1875 | Apr 26, 2010, 11:21 PM EDT
'It’s the first thing I offer people the minute they’re sick.' I think there is a place for people whose first offier when you tell them you are sick is to off you. It should be the last thing that any one would think of. Well I bet it puts a quick end to the usual long conversation that usually ensue when you ask a little old lady how she is doing. No swappping Dr visit stories with Nell. "Tis only terminal cancer Nell, no need to put yourself out on my account.I'm feeling better already"
jacersisityourself | Apr 26, 2010, 07:35 PM EDT
(...cont’d) That is why I think Nell McCafferty’s humanist’s thoughts for her friend Nuala fail. God’s own Son had to do it the hard way, yet He rose again from the occasion and lives within us all of humankind. That’s the hard call, for all of us, Christians and non-Christians - to accept God’s euthanasia, to rise again and not succumb to Satan’s call for us to ignore the 5th commandment given by God to Moses, embellished in Christ’s 2nd commandment. What would Watchman have to say on this? What would the nurses and doctors who administer death-inducing medicines have to say? - in the face of God, that is – or not, as one might choose?
jacersisityourself | Apr 26, 2010, 07:30 PM EDT
Hyattsville seems to call for assisted suicide as a “legalised last resort for the terminally ill” – that’s the hard bit for us human people, you see. Christian Churches are largely against euthanasia because of Jesus Christ, a member of the human race, yet the Son of God, and because of the way He died. Christ died by what must be one of the most painful deaths (imagine it, feel it in yr imagination for a few hours or minutes if you can bear it. Ask any present-day relatives of Egyptian Christians who listened to their crucified relatives’ dying words, or go there as an investigative journalist or tourist and ask them in Egypt and relateit back pls. It shocks me that the United Nations HRC even seems to turn a blind eye to it going on). The thing is this: God put His own Son through agony but He had, for Him, and has for us believers, a way of helping - His own ‘manner’ of euthanasia, if I may be excused to put it that way (all Saints, human people themselves, ultimately died by God’s idea of euthanasia). (Cont’d.../)
jacersisityourself | Apr 26, 2010, 06:21 PM EDT
Nell first came to my attention through media reports on the famous feminists’ Belfast-Dublin condom train by back a good while. She’s been in the public spotlight from time to time since. I never liked her as a person - as she portrayed herself in writings, on radio and on TV - for some odd reason, though she came across as good-meaning. This news that she was prepared to “help” her friend Nuala die (i.e. “help the killing of Nuala”) doesn’t rest easy with me either. I’m sure there’s someone out there that can help Nell, she suffered enough a lot in her young years, there’s no need for her to be taking it out on a friend in her later years. Would she have the courage to do it to herself? I don’t think so. Someone pls help Nell... before she goes.
hyattsville | Apr 26, 2010, 01:58 PM EDT
It should be legalized as a last resort for the terminally ill, and should be done under the supervision of a qualified physician. A well meaning but medically ignorant friend with a stockpile of God knows isn’t the answer. I don’t believe Nell could have done it anyway but I do like that she still grabs the controversial and brings it out for a public airing. And she’s obviously a lot more comfortable with her sexuality than Murphy66!
gcwfromcanada | Apr 25, 2010, 10:35 PM EDT
While I agree that assisted suicide should be made legal to those facing a long and painful death, I sure as heck don't think some friends should make that choice. I like Holland's law that says if 2 dr's agree that there is no hope at all, then the dr will assist the person through their final moments. Save us from zealots! Murphy66 - really? Not funny, not at all.
murphy66 | Apr 24, 2010, 11:45 PM EDT
Nell probably would have BUTCHED it.