While I was recovering from my cancer operation in hospital, sometimes the pain was so great; (especially when the epidural drip was removed) that even morphine hardly helped – it was all enveloping, and there was literally no escape from it; pain was me, it was all I could think of, and of course I just wanted it to go away, and thankfully eventually it did. But there were moments when I thought if this continued I would want my life to end, because it was just so unbearable and defined my every waking moment, so even when Sarah and Lucy visited it was an effort to even speak to them. I also remember my mum’s last moments on earth, sitting with her in her hospital room while she grimly and bravely faced her end, dying from lung cancer in excruciating pain; it was distressing for us her family, but for her it was truly awful, and I remember too wondering why she had to suffer the indignity of this long drawn out death for so long when there were surely drugs available to help to ease her on her way. But recently it seems assisted dying is being considered seriously as an option to help us on our final journey, and now that church leaders such as the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey and Desmond Tutu are speaking up in favour of the bill that is facing Parliament there may be an option for the terminally ill to make an informed choice about how they die. It’s an emotive subject, and of course laws like this should not be rushed into for all sorts of moral reasons, and many safeguards must be put in place to ensure that elderly relatives who may think their lingering illness to be a burden on their carers are not therefore pressured to end their lives before their time. As I said, this is a subject I have been thinking about for some time for very personal reasons, and following my mum’s death I wrote and acted in a short film inspired by her called Rhubarb And Roses. Below is some stuff about the film and a link so that you can watch it too if you like…
Short Film funded by Screen West Midlands, screened Bristol Brief Encounters Festival, Birmingham Film Festival, Soho Rushes and was short-listed for a BAFTA nomination and was a finalist in the fujifilm best new writer competition.
Molly has lung cancer and not much longer to live. As her pain increases, her son Ricky tries to give her everything he can to make her comfortable. When nothing seems to be working, she asks him to help her end her life. A last supper is prepared to help her on her way. Rhubarb And Roses is a tribute to my mom, Jean Jones: I spent eight months watching her die of lung-cancer, and although I have no firm conviction either way, it's also my informed contribution to the debate on euthanasia for people with terminal illness and in acute pain. Ged Maguire (the director) lent a sympathetic touch as his father too had recently died of cancer. It was a challenge to make a short film of life’s final taboo and to do it with dignity. But I think it’s both funny and moving, and that was how my mom was right up to the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment