Watching the storyline in The Pitt about the woman who wanted to die on her own terms brought back a lot of memories. There are a lot of opinions about that storyline in The Pitt with the woman who wanted to die on her own terms. But when you have actually lived something like that, it does not feel complicated. I watched someone I love be in that level of pain. There was no fixing it. No getting better. Just suffering.
It always strikes me how differently we treat people compared to animals. When a cat or dog is at the end of their life or in unbearable pain, we show compassion and let them go peacefully. We accept it as the kindest choice. But when it comes to people, society often expects us to prolong suffering, as if our discomfort with death matters more than the person’s pain. Living through that made me wish humans could be granted the same dignity and compassion.
And when the time came, a doctor helped her go peacefully. It was not controversial to us. It was compassionate. Keeping her here would have been for us, not for her. So we made the choice to support what she wanted. That episode handled it beautifully. It felt real. Of course, you might not feel the same way, and that is completely okay. Everyone has to make their own personal decisions. I share this to offer one perspective and to honor the dignity of choices made in love and compassion.
