Man is killing himself tonight and the law cant stop him

[Zoltri]

CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA Marcel Tremblay said he wasn't crazy, just fed up with suffering and determined to die by his own hand with his family by his side.

The retired rooming house owner went public today with his plans to kill himself tonight at his suburban bungalow because he wanted people to debate the right to die with dignity.

The stooped, frail-looking 78-year-old, suffering from a fatal lung disease, sat before a phalanx of cameras at his lawyer's office to say that he was ready to die and didn't care who knew it.

He was lucky, he said, because he was still strong enough to tug a helium-filled bag over his head - his method of choice - and, "pull the plug."

Those who don't have that strength are left without a choice, he said, because the law bans assisting a suicide.

Tremblay said he no longer found any joy or happiness in life. Even his trips to Syracuse, N.Y., to play poker, one of his favourite pastimes, were impossible.

"There is no quality to this life and since I have this disease that's going to kill me anyway, I don't feel I want to wait around for that to happen."

God and religion hold neither fears nor promise to him, he added.

"We're getting older and they're keeping us alive, dammit," he growled in a low, but firm voice.

Tremblay felt that the law should be changed to allow assisted suicide, said his lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon.

"He is in a position where he can do something," Greenspon said. "The vast majority of people who suffer terminal illnesses are not in a position where they are physically able to do what he intends to do and that's a very big part of the reason why he's decided to be very public about his intentions."

Tremblay said even groups that support death with dignity don't want to talk about suicide.

"They all say: `Don't call the police, don't tell anybody, go in the corner and do it.'

"We're never going to get that law changed if everybody does that. I could have done that like everybody else is doing.

"This is going on all the time but people just don't want to talk about it."

Through his news conference, he insisted that he would not back down. He planned a last meal with his family and a living wake with family and friends, before going home to die.

Tremblay's wife and adult children, two daughters, a son and a son-in-law, looked on as he spoke, their faces expressionless, although he said they all support him.

He recounted a litany of health problems, including back trouble, stomach problems and an incurable and eventually fatal lung condition.

"I just don't want to live any more than one more day living the way I've been living the last three months, getting up and going to bed with a constant hangover-type headache."

Greenspon, looking decidedly uncomfortable and admitting to moral and ethical qualms about Tremblay's decision, nevertheless, said what he planned was perfectly legal.

And, the lawyer said, Ottawa police told him they had no plans to interfere.

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler called it a "very tragic situation."

"This is a very, very difficult and painful question about which Canadians have different views. There is no real emergent consensus," he said.

"I cannot as the minister of justice and the attorney general instruct authorities as to what they do in these matters. These are matters that fall within the domain of the provincial administration of justice."

Tremblay said he'd discussed his decision with two psychiatrists before police heard of his plan this month and took him to the Ottawa Hospital, apparently for another psychiatric evaluation.

He said he spent five hours sitting at the hospital with three policemen watching him, only to have a doctor come in, ask three questions and tell him he was free to go.

At that point, Greenspon said, the police washed their hands of the case.

Since Tremblay wouldn't get any help, there would be no crime, he said. An unidentified, independent witness would be on hand to confirm no help was given.

His determination came through as he whispered with Greenspon before the news conference began and spoke about poker.

"They say poker is a game where you have to make decisions and it's the same with this. You have to make a decision."

[Daliman]

Good for him.

[Bump-en-Stein]

[ QUOTE ]
Tremblay said he no longer found any joy or happiness in life. Even his trips to Syracuse, N.Y., to play poker, one of his favourite pastimes, were impossible. He even tried his hand at internet poker. After PokerSpot closed down and kept his money, that was pretty much the last straw.


[/ QUOTE ]

Wow. Dutch does some collateral damage.

[Michael Emery]

Very sad. I dont know where I come down regarding someones right to end their own life. I think if someone is in intense physical or emotional pain though, and has thought about their decision, I would not judge them for doing so. I would only wish them to find peace.

Mike Emery

[Zoltri]

OTTAWA-A frail, 78-year-old man took his own life last night with the hope his death would spark public debate and help to make assisted suicide legal.

Marcel Tremblay, who suffered from chronic health problems, including a fatal lung disease, had said he also hoped his public death would show others with terminal illnesses and sound minds that there is a way to "die with dignity."

A police spokesperson said Tremblay was pronounced dead at 11:51 p.m.

[Aceshigh7]

God thats stupid...

I don't care how much suffering you are in, if you don't recognize the gift of life and cherish every single day you have left, you're an idiot. My father died of cancer and did everything he could to fight it to the very end..

[Easy E]

[ QUOTE ]
God thats stupid...

I don't care how much suffering you are in,

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course you don't- it's not your suffering. Do we let animals suffer in old age for no reason? How is it different?

Save the judgments for your own actions

[Edge34]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Tremblay said he no longer found any joy or happiness in life. Even his trips to Syracuse, N.Y., to play poker, one of his favourite pastimes, were impossible. He even tried his hand at internet poker. After PokerSpot closed down and kept his money, that was pretty much the last straw.


[/ QUOTE ]

Wow. Dutch does some collateral damage.

[/ QUOTE ]

Come on man...

[Duke]

[ QUOTE ]
Of course you don't- it's not your suffering. Do we let animals suffer in old age for no reason? How is it different?

Save the judgments for your own actions

[/ QUOTE ]

You put this far more kindly than I would have.

~D

[Aceshigh7]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Of course you don't- it's not your suffering. Do we let animals suffer in old age for no reason? How is it different?

Save the judgments for your own actions

[/ QUOTE ]

You put this far more kindly than I would have.

~D

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I really have no problem if idiots decide they want to kill themselves. If they prefer nonexistence to the gift of being alive, so be it.

Personally I will take any kind of agonizing pain over the alternative of eternal blackness.

Sounds to me like you really have alot to learn about life..

[ QUOTE ]
Save the judgments for your own actions

[/ QUOTE ]

And I will say whatever the **** I wish about this subject. That is what this forum is for. So save the directives for your children who have no other choice than to listen to you.