アメリカ・オレゴン州在住の女性、ブリタニー・メイナードさんは、末期の脳腫瘍という診断を受け、 尊厳死の選択という患者の権利を積極的に提唱してきた。地元紙「オレゴニアン」によると、ブリタニーさんは11月1日、自宅で医師から処方された薬を服用し、家族に見守られながら29歳で死去した。
「愛する友人たち、そして家族の皆さん、さようなら」。雑誌「ピープル」によると、彼女はフェイスブックにこのように投稿している。
「本日は、末期の脳腫瘍を患う私が、尊厳をもって死ぬために選んだ日です。世界は美しいところです。旅が私の最高の師であり、また身近な友人や家族は多くのものを私に捧げてくれました。さようなら、世界のみなさん。良いエネルギーを広げていってください。次につなげていきましょう！」
■ 「尊厳死」の直前には揺れ動く思いを吐露
2014年前半、ブリタニーさんは神経膠芽腫という悪性の脳腫瘍の診断を受け、余命わずか6か月であるという宣告を受けた。疾患の最終段階に体がどのような影響を受けるかを知らされ、彼女は自身の死について自ら判断を下すことに決めた。
ブリタニーさんと、その家族である夫のダン・ディアスさん、そして母親のデビー・ジグラーさんはオレゴン州へと移住した。オレゴン州では尊厳死法が成立しており、何百もの末期症状患者が医師に処方された薬剤で自ら命を絶っている。ブリタニーさんは、10月下旬の夫の誕生日後の11月1日を、自らの命を絶つ日として選んだ。
それ以来、ブリタニーさんは尊厳死法、そして彼女と同様の立場にいる患者の擁護者として、尊厳死支援団体「コンパッション・アンド・チョイセズ (Compassion and Choices) 」で活動してきた。
「私には自殺願望があるわけではありません」と彼女はCNN.comのブログ投稿サイトに書いている。「私は死にたくはありません。ですが、わたしはもうすぐ死にます。だとしたら、自分の思う通りに死にたいのです」。
10月29日、ブリタニーさんは新しい動画を公表したが、それは命を絶つ日を延期するかもしれないと思わせる内容であった。
「11月2日が来て私が亡くなっていたら、それでも家族が私のこと、そして私の選択した道を誇らしく思うことを願います。11月2日がきて私がまだ生きていたら、それは互いに対する愛情のために私たちはまだ前進しているということで、決定は後になって下されるでしょう」。
ブリタニーさんは最近になって、バケツリスト(生きているうちにやっておきたいリスト)の最後の項目を成し遂げた。それはグランドキャニオンに旅行する、というものであった。病気になる前のメイナードさんは、活動的な旅行家、そして冒険家であった。南西アジアに1年住んだ経験がある。また、キリマンジャロにも一度登っている。
以下の動画で、ブリタニーさんのストーリーを詳しく見ることができる。
Notable People We've Lost In 2014
Ernie Terrell(01 of80)
Ernie Terrell, whose brief reign as heavyweight champion ended with a punishing loss to Muhammad Ali in a 1967 grudge match, died on Dec. 16, 2014 He was 75.\n (credit:Mario Geo via Getty Images)
Jean Beliveau(02 of80)
Canadiens legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Jean Beliveau, who scored 507 goals, won 10 Stanley Cups and was captain for 10 seasons before his retirement in 1971, died on Dec. 2, 2014. He was 83.\n (credit:Francois Lacasse via Getty Images)
Chespirito(03 of80)
Roberto Gomez Bolanos, the iconic Mexican comedian known as Chespirito who wrote and played the boy television character \"El Chavo del Ocho\" that defined a generation for millions of Latin American children, died on Nov. 28, 2014 at age 85.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
P.D. James(04 of80)
British mystery novelist P.D. James, who was best known as the creator of sensitive Scotland Yard sleuth Adam Dalgliesh, died on Nov. 27, 2014. She was 94.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Marion Barry(05 of80)
Marion Barry, the controversial former four-term mayor of Washington DC who will long be remembered for his crack cocaine arrest, died on Nov. 23, 2014. He was 78.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart,(06 of80)
Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, the 18th Duchess of Alba and one of Spain\'s wealthiest and most colorful aristocrats, died on Nov. 20, 2014. She was 88.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Mike Nichols(07 of80)
Mike Nichols, Oscar-winning director of \"The Graduate\" and husband of ABC News\' Diane Sawyer, died on Nov. 18, 2014 night at the age of 83.\n (credit:Dario Cantatore/Invision/AP)
John Downey(08 of80)
John Downey, a Connecticut judge and former CIA agent who spent 20 years as a prisoner in China during the Cold War has died on Nov. 17, 2014. He was 84.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Manitas de Plata(09 of80)
Flamenco guitarist Manitas de Plata, who sold nearly 100 million records worldwide and broke boundaries for Gypsy musicians, died on Nov. 5, 2014. He was 93.\n (credit:DOMINIQUE FAGET via Getty Images)
Tom Magliozzi(10 of80)
Tom Magliozzi, left, the iconic co-host of NPR\'s \"Car Talk\" for nearly 35 years, died on Nov. 3 at the age of 77.\n (credit:Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Brittany Maynard(11 of80)
Brittany Maynard, the Oregon woman who had become an outspoken advocate for patient\'s rights following her terminal cancer diagnosis, died on Nov. 1, 2014. She was 29 (credit:Youtube)
Galway Kinnell(12 of80)
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Galway Kinnell died on Oct. 28, 2014. He was 87.\n (credit:Ilya S. Savenok via Getty Images)
Joan Quigley(13 of80)
Joan Quigley, 87, who served as First Lady Nancy Reagan\'s personal astrologer, died on Oct. 21, 2014. \n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Frank Mankiewicz(14 of80)
Frank Mankiewicz, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy\'s press secretary and the former president of NPR, died on Oct. 23, 2014. He was 90. \n (credit:Duane Howell via Getty Images)
Ben Bradlee(15 of80)
Ben Bradlee, the raspy-voiced, hard-charging editor who invigorated The Washington Post and became famous for his role in toppling President Richard Nixon for the Watergate scandal, died on Oct. 21, 2014. He was 93.\n (credit:The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Nelson Bunker Hunt(16 of80)
Texas oil baron Nelson Bunker Hunt, 88, who was once considered the world\'s richest man before his fortunes were undone by Muammar Gaddafi and his own epic overreaching in the silver market, died on Oct. 21, 2014.\n (credit:Central Press via Getty Images)
Tim Hauser(17 of80)
Tim Hauser, the founder and singer of the Grammy-winning vocal troupe The Manhattan Transfer, died on Oct. 16, 2014. He was 72.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Elizabeth Pena(18 of80)
Elizabeth Pena, the versatile actress who shifted between dramatic roles in such films as \"Lone Star\" and comedic parts in TV shows like \"Modern Family,\" died on Oct. 14, 2014. She was 55.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Jean-Claude Duvalier(19 of80)
Jean-Claude Duvalier, who presided over what was widely acknowledged as a corrupt and brutal regime as the self-proclaimed \"president for life\" of Haiti until a popular uprising sent him into a 25-year exile, died on Oct. 4, 2014. He was 63.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Paul Revere(20 of80)
Paul Revere (center), the organist and leader of the Raiders rock band, died on Oct. 4, 2014. He was 76.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Joan Rivers(21 of80)
Comedienne Joan Rivers, who reveled in skewering celebs with cutting remarks and a caustic wit, died on Sept. 4, 2014 at 81. (credit:Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Sir Richard Attenborough(22 of80)
Acclaimed actor and Oscar-winning director Sir Richard Attenborough, whose film career on both sides of the camera spanned 60 years, died on Aug. 24, 2014. He was 90.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Steven R. Nagel(23 of80)
NASA astronaut Steven R. Nagel, who flew four space shuttle missions, died on Aug. 21, 2014. He was 67.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
James Jeffords(24 of80)
James Jeffords, the former U.S. senator from Vermont who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, died on Aug. 18, 2014. He was 80.\n (credit:Scott J. Ferrell via Getty Images)
Lauren Bacall(25 of80)
Hollywood icon Lauren Bacall, star of films such as \"To Have and Have Not\" and \"Key Largo,\" died on Aug. 12, 2014. She was 89.\n (credit:ROBYN BECK via Getty Images)
Robin Williams(26 of80)
Oscar-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams died on Aug. 11, 2014. He was 63.\n (credit:Frank Micelotta/Invision/AP)
James Brady(27 of80)
James Brady, former White House Press Secretary who was permanently wounded after being shot in a 1981 assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan, died August 4. He was 73. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
James Garner(28 of80)
Actor James Garner, whose whimsical style in the 1950s TV Western \"Maverick\" led to a stellar career in TV and films such as \"The Rockford Files\" and his Oscar-nominated \"Murphy\'s Romance,\" died on July 20, 2014. He was 86.\n (credit:AP)
Joep Lange(29 of80)
Joep Lange, a pioneer in the field of AIDS research and the former president of the International AIDS Society, was killed in a plane crash on July 17, 2014.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Elaine Stritch(30 of80)
Broadway icon and TV actress Elaine Stritch died on July 17, 2014. She was 89. \n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Johnny Winter(31 of80)
Texas blues icon Johnny Winter, who rose to fame in the late 1960s and \'70s for his energetic performances and musical collaborations including with childhood hero Muddy Waters, died on July 16, 2014. He was 70. (credit:Barry Brecheisen/Invision/AP)
Alice Coachman(32 of80)
Track and field star Alice Coachman, who in 1948 became the first black woman to win a gold medal in the Olympic games, died on July 14, 2014 at the age of 90. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Nadine Gordimer(33 of80)
Nadine Gordimer, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1991 for novels that explored the complex relationships and human cost of racial conflict in apartheid-era South Africa, died on July 13, 2014. She was 90. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Tommy Ramone(34 of80)
Tommy Ramone, 65, a co-founder of the seminal punk band the Ramones and the last surviving member of the original group, died on July 12, 2014. (credit:Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Eileen Ford(35 of80)
Modeling agency founder Eileen Ford, who shaped a generation\'s standards of beauty, died on July 9, 2014. She was 92. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Alfredo Di Stefano(36 of80)
Argentina soccer star Alfredo Di Stefano died on July 7, 2014. He was 88. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Eduard Shevardnadze(37 of80)
Eduard Shevardnadze, a groundbreaking Soviet foreign minister and later the president of an independent Georgia, died on July 7, 2014. He was 86.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Louis Zamperini(38 of80)
Louis Zamperini, a war hero, Olympian and the subject of a celebrated book and upcoming movie on his harrowing story of survival against all odds, died on July 2. He was 97.\n (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Eli Wallach(39 of80)
Actor Eli Wallach, who worked for decades in TV, movies and on stage and made a lasting impression as the scuzzy bandit Tuco in \"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,\" died on June 24, 2014 at the age of 98. (credit:Getty Images)
Gerry Goffin(40 of80)
Lyricist Gerry Goffin, 75, who penned such hits as \"Will You Love Me Tomorrow,\" \'\'(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,\" \'\'Up on the Roof\" and \"The Loco-Motion,\" died on June 19, 2014.\n (credit:Getty Images)
Horace Silver(41 of80)
Horace Silver, a pianist, composer and band leader with a tireless inventiveness who influenced generations of jazzmen with his distinctive hard bop sound, died on June 18, 2014. He was 85.\n (credit:Flickr:koiart71)
Casey Kasem(42 of80)
Legendary broadcaster Casey Kasem, who was best known for his work on the \"American Top 40\" radio show, which he hosted from 1970 to 1988, and again from 1998 until 2004, died on June 15, 2014. He was 82.\n (credit:Getty Images)
Ruby Dee(43 of80)
Actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee died on June 11, 2014. She was 91. \n (credit:Getty Images)
Bob Welch(44 of80)
Bob Welch, the 1990 AL Cy Young Award winner of the Oakland Athletics and the last major leaguer to win at least 25 games in a season, died on June 9. He was 57.\n (credit:Getty Images)
Ann B. Davis(45 of80)
Comic actress Ann B. Davis, who played the devoted housekeeper Alice on the television sitcom \"The Brady Bunch\" and won two Emmy awards as the forever-single secretary Schultzy on \"The Bob Cummings Show,\" died on June 1, 2014 at age 88. (credit:Getty Images)
Maya Angelou(46 of80)
Poet Maya Angelou, a modern Renaissance woman who survived the harshest of childhoods to become a force on stage, screen, the printed page and the inaugural dais, died on May 28, 2014. She was 86. (credit:Getty Images)
Gordon Willis(47 of80)
Gordon Willis, the cinematographer responsible for stirring camera work in such film classics as the \"Godfather\" trilogy and \"Manhattan,\" died on May 18, 2014. (credit:Getty Images)
Don Meyer(48 of80)
Don Meyer (left), one of the winningest coaches in college basketball who came back from a near-fatal car accident and liver cancer before closing out his career, died on May 18, 2014. He was 69. (credit:AP)
H.R. Giger(49 of80)
Swiss artist H.R. Giger, right, who designed the creature in Ridley Scott\'s sci-fi horror classic \"Alien,\" died on May 12, 2004. He was 74. (credit:AP)
Elena Baltacha(50 of80)
Elena Baltacha, a former top-50 professional tennis player who had been fighting liver cancer since retiring from the game, died May 4, 2014. She was 30.\n (credit:Getty Images)
Bob Hoskins(51 of80)
English actor Bob Hoskins, who is best known for his roles in \"Who Framed Roger Rabbit\" and \"Hook,\" died on April 29, 2014. He was 71. (credit:Getty Images)
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter(52 of80)
Rubin \"Hurricane\" Carter, the middleweight title contender whose murder convictions became an international symbol of racial injustice and inspired a Bob Dylan song and a Hollywood film, died on April 20, 2014. He was 76.\n (credit:WikiMedia:)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez(53 of80)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Nobel laureate whose novels and short stories exposed tens of millions of readers to Latin America\'s passion, superstition, violence and inequality, died on April 17, 2014. He was 87. (credit:Flickr:pds209)
José "Cheo" Feliciano(54 of80)
Puerto Rican salsa star José \"Cheo\" Feliciano died on April 17, 2014 in a car accident. He was 78.\n\nCORRECTION: An earlier photo featured the wrong José Feliciano. (credit:David F. Gasser/CON via Getty Images)
The Ultimate Warrior(55 of80)
The Ultimate Warrior, a 54-year-old professional wrestler who was recently inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, died on April 8, 2014. (credit:WikiMedia:)
Phyllis Frelich(56 of80)
Phyllis Frelich, a Tony Award-winning deaf actress who starred in the Broadway version of \"Children of a Lesser God,\" died on April 10, 2014. She was 70.\n (credit:Getty Images)
Mickey Rooney(57 of80)
Mickey Rooney, an award-winning actor and Hollywood legend who appeared in more than 300 films and TV programs, died on April 6 at the age of 93. (credit:AP)
John Pinette(58 of80)
John Pinette, renowned stand-up comedian who appeared in the final episode of the hit TV show \"Seinfeld,\" died on April 6. He was 50. (credit:AP)
Charles Keating Jr.(59 of80)
In this Nov. 22, 1989 file photo, financier Charles H. Keating arrives to testify before the House Banking Committee. Keating cited his Fifth Amendment protection against self incrimination did not answer questions from the panel. The disgraced financier behind in the costliest savings and loan failure of the 1980s died on March 31. He was 90. (credit:AP)
Kate O'Mara(60 of80)
Actress Kate O\'Mara, who was best known for her role as Caress Morell, the scheming sister of Alexis Colby in the 1980s primetime soap opera \"Dynasty,\" died on March 30 at the age of 74. (credit:Getty Images/File)
Patrice Wymore Flynn(61 of80)
Patrice Wymore Flynn, Hollywood actress and widow of swashbuckling screen legend Errol Flynn, died on March 22. She was 87.\n (credit:Keystone via Getty Images)
James Rebhorn(62 of80)
In this file photo, actor James Rebhorn attends \'The Box\' premiere at the AMC Lincoln Square on Nov. 4, 2009 in New York City. Rebhorn died on March 21, 2014. He was 65. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
L'Wren Scott(63 of80)
L\'Wren Scott, a noted fashion designer and model, died on March 17. She was 49.\n (credit:Getty Images)
David Brenner(64 of80)
Comedian David Brenner, who became one of the most frequent visitors to Johnny Carson\'s \"Tonight\" in the 1970s and \'80s, died on March 15. He was 78.\n (credit:Getty Images)
Harold Ramis(65 of80)
In this file photo, Harold Ramis attends a SCTV panel discussion in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Second City at 1616 N. Wells Avenue on December 12, 2009 in Chicago. Ramis died on Feb. 24. He was 69. (credit:Getty Images)
Maria Von Trapp(66 of80)
Maria von Trapp, the last surviving member and second-eldest daughter of the musical family whose escape from Nazi-occupied Austria was the basis for \"The Sound of Music,\" died on Feb. 18, 2014. She was 99. (credit:AP)
Bob Casale(67 of80)
In this 1978 photo taken by Janet Macoska and released by Devo, Inc., the band Devo, from left, Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh, kneeling, Jerry Casale, Bob Casale and Alan Myers pose for a photo. Bob Casale died on Feb. 17, 2014 at the age of 61. (credit:AP)
Ralph Waite(68 of80)
Ralph Waite attends at \'The Waltons\' 40th Anniversary Reunion The Wilshire Ebell Theatre on September 29, 2012 in Los Angeles. Waite died on Feb. 13. He was 85. \n (credit:Gabriel Olsen/FilmMagic)
Sid Caesar(69 of80)
In this file photo, actor Sid Caesar arrives at the Arclight Cinema for the 40th Anniversary screening of the movie \'It\'s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World\' on October 16, 2003 in Hollywood. Caesar died on Feb. 12, 2014. He was 91. (credit:Getty Images)
Shirley Temple Black(70 of80)
Actress Shirley Temple Black accepts the Life Achievement Award onstage during the 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on January 29, 2006 in Los Angeles. She died on Feb. 10 at the age of 85. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
Philip Seymour Hoffman(71 of80)
In a Jan. 19, 2014 photo Philip Seymour Hoffman poses for a portrait at The Collective and Gibson Lounge Powered by CEG, during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Hoffman died on Feb. 2. He was 46. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP) (credit:AP)
Pete Seeger(72 of80)
This May 5, 2006, file photo shows Pete Seeger in Beacon, N.Y. The American troubadour, folk singer and activist Seeger died Jan. 27, 2014, at age 94. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File) (credit:AP)
Tom Gola(73 of80)
This April 2, 1956, file photo shows George Yardley (12) Fort Wayne outreaching Tom Gola (15) of the Philadelphia Warriors, under his own basket to save the ball for the Pistons in Fort Wayne. Gola, the Hall of Fame basketball player who led La Salle to the 1954 NCAA title and helped the Philadelphia Warriors win the 1956 NBA championship, died Jan. 26, 2014. He was 81. (AP Photo/File) (credit:AP)
Russell Johnson(74 of80)
FILE - This Oct. 2, 1978 file photo shows Russell Johnson, as the professor, posing during filming of a two-hour reunion show, \"The Return from Gilligan\'s Island,\" in Los Angeles. Johnson died Jan. 16, 2014, at his home in Washington State. He was 89. (AP Photo/Wally Fong, File) (credit:AP)
Dave Madden(75 of80)
This 1970 photo released by courtesy of Sony Pictures Television shows, back row, from left, cast members, Shirley Jones, Dave Madden, David Cassidy, Susan Dey, and front row, from left, Brian Forster, Danny Bonaduce and Suzanne Crough of the television series, \"The Partridge Family.\" Madden, who played the child-hating agent on the hit 1970s sitcom, died on Jan. 16, 2014, at age 82. (AP Photo/Copyright CPT Holdings Inc, Courtesy Sony Pictures Television) (credit:AP)
Amiri Baraka(76 of80)
This Oct. 2, 2002 file photo shows Amiri Baraka, New Jersey\'s poet laureate during a ceremony at the Newark Public Library in Newark, N.J. Baraka, a Beat poet, black nationalist and Marxist revolutionary known for his blues-based, fist-shaking manifestos, died on Jan. 9, 2014. He was 79. (AP Photo/Mike Derer, File) (credit:AP)
Otis Pike(77 of80)
FILE - In this Nov. 1, 1975 file photo Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, left, shakes hands with Rep. Otis G. Pike (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Pike died on Jan 20, 2014, at age 92. (AP Photo, File) (credit:AP)
Ariel Sharon(78 of80)
(FILES) This picture taken on November 23, 2005 shows Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon attending a Parliament session in Jerusalem. Sharon died on Jan. 11, 2014. (GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
Juanita Moore(79 of80)
In this 2010 file photo, actress Juanita Moore attends the TCM Classic Film Festival screening of a \'A Star Is Born\' at Grauman\'s Chinese Theater. She died on Jan. 1, 2014. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
Frank Jobe(80 of80)
Dr. Frank Jobe, known for the development of the historic elbow procedure known as Tommy John Surgery, died on March 6, 2014 at the age of 88. (credit:AP)
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