Hospice patient, Michael died in September 2007 – on the 13th day of his fast. Due to terminal pancreatic cancer, his body had already begun the process of shutting down. He was unable to retain food without medication and had already accessed hospice services. It was at this point that he called the news editor of a Boulder, Colorado-based community radio station (KGNU- 88.5 FM) to ask if a reporter would be interested in documenting his death. He planned to stop eating and drinking the next day.
Michael’s “dying wish” was to show others that what is called “patient refusal of nutrition and hydration” resulted in a gentle death. His own research showed relatively little information on stopping drinking and eating at the end of a terminal illness. What little research he found indicated a more humane end. Michael wanted to dispel common misconceptions that the dying person feels hunger and thirst once they choose this very natural route to an expected death.
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