On November 1st, 2014 Brittany Maynard took her own life through a drug overdose in Oregon. She was only 29 years old. She was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma and felt it would be a more humane death to take her own life rather than fight and suffer in a hospital bed.
A glioblastoma is a type of brain tumor and resulted in Maynard being given a very short amount of time to live. When Maynard decided that she wanted to take her own life rather than die in a bed she moved to Oregon after being a California resident all her life. She began doing everything that was on her bucket list after the move. Maynard went to Paris, did a 5k, and fulfilled her mom’s dream of seeing her get accepted into law school.
As the days began to count down it really started to hit her hard that she was ending her life and leaving behind a husband of two years, as well as a mother she was very close to. She knew she preferred leaving on her own terms though rather than in a hospital bed suffering and losing her mind.
“I will die upstairs in my bedroom with my husband, mother, stepfather and best friend by my side and pass peacefully. I can’t imagine trying to rob anyone else of that choice,” stated Maynard when she was interviewed before her death and asked how she would die.
When she first received her filled prescription of pills she felt relieved because that meant she was in charge of her life, not anyone else.
“Having this choice at the end of my life has become incredibly important. It has given me a sense of peace during a tumultuous time that otherwise would be dominated by fear, uncertainty and pain.”
Maynard may now be gone but she will definitely not be forgotten and she has left behind a legacy in dying with dignity.
“I did not want this nightmare scenario for my family, so I started researching death with dignity. It is an end-of-life option for mentally competent, terminally ill patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live.”
Maynard brought great attention to a cause that may not have gotten much attention due to the fact that it is so controversial. Since her death other people also in her situation are starting to look at dying with dignity as an option. Before her death, Maynard started Compassions and Choices to campaign for dying with dignity in other states that don’t have it yet.
Maynard was constantly criticized for not staying and fighting for more time. Yet she knew she could not survive or recover from this so she decided this was her option. It was her choice after all and she didn’t need to be criticized for it.
Maynard may have taken her own life but she did live a happy life. She made the best decision for her and she did everything she wanted to do. She will continue to live on through Compassions and Choices.