Sad news.
Terry Pratchett starts process to take his own life
Sir Terry Pratchett, the fantasy writer who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2008, said yesterday he had started the formal process that could lead to his own assisted suicide at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.
Pratchett, whose BBC2 film about the subject of assisted suicide is to be shown on BBC2 tomorrow, revealed he had been sent the consent forms requesting a suicide by the clinic and planned to sign them imminently.
"The only thing stopping me [signing them] is that I have made this film and I have a bloody book to finish," he said during a question-and-answer session following a screening at the Sheffield documentary festival Doc/Fest.
He said that he decided to start the process after making the film Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die, which shows the moment of death of a motor neurone sufferer, millionaire hotel owner Peter Smedley.
Pratchett, the creator of the Discworld novels who was 60 when he was diagnosed, said his decision to start the formal process did not necessarily mean he was going to take his own life.
According to Dignitas, 70% of people who sign the forms do not go through with taking their own lives.
*MySmiley*
structured procrastinator
structured procrastinator
Terry Pratchett starts the process to end his life.
- 13/06/2011 01:16:34 PM
1133 Views
That is a little scary, yes. *NM*
- 13/06/2011 01:28:31 PM
230 Views
I'm glad he's taken control of his life. Good for him. *NM*
- 13/06/2011 07:17:25 PM
449 Views
I find it funny how liberals use the word "control" to indicate negation or absence.
- 15/06/2011 12:23:59 PM
813 Views
Re: I find it funny how liberals use the word "control" to indicate negation or absence.
- 15/06/2011 12:52:38 PM
660 Views
I agree that was funny. Can I get a tshirt saying "Officially Liberal" on it you think?
- 15/06/2011 06:51:50 PM
764 Views
*NM*