Death a ‘learning experience’ says at-home hospice worker
MELBOURNE: Thirty years ago, Sarah Carberry was collecting signatures for “dying with dignity” on a street corner in San Francisco.
But she’s “done a complete 180” in the past few years due to her work as a “death walker” with her service the Farewell Trust, which supports people and their families who choose to die at home.
Now, she’s not sure about euthanasia, but definitely would not choose it for herself.
“It was only in the last few years working with people in palliative care, working with Hospice Marlborough and realising we can make a huge difference,” Carberry said.
“If you end it too soon, you’re perhaps missing out on memories that you can achieve.”
Beginning in 2016, the Farewell Trust is an at home hospice care service for people living remotely. Carberry and her fellow volunteers are companions to the dying and their families, who choose to remain at home rather than relocate to a hospital.
The controversial End of Life Bill, to legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill, passed 69 to 51 on Wednesday night, sending the final decision to a referendum at next year’s election.
Death walker Sarah Carberry supports people dying at home, in remote parts of Marlborough.
Carberry had similar concerns to some MPs, and former New Zealand prime minister Bill English – that the elderly could be ‘coerced’ by greedy relatives, or that euthanasia could prevent the improvements needed in palliative care.
But she also believed death to be an “important learning experience” for whānau and friends.
“It’s not making them feel a burden, it’s them giving us a gift, because they’re teaching us what we need to learn about compassion and empathy and how to make it better.
“And hopefully when we get to that stage, others have learnt the same lesson.”
The End of Life Choice Bill passed 69 to 51 on Wednesday night, sending the final decision to a referendum at next year’s election.
While she supported an individual’s right to choose, she believed death to be a healthy part of the grieving process.
“You’re depriving people of the chance to say goodbye, let go, but most of all support you.
“We’ve tended to clinicalise [death], it happens in a hospital, it happens in a hospice if you’re lucky … but we’re blocking education, and it’s all about learning as a society how we can make it better.”
Improvements could be made in palliative care to make sure nobody died in pain or suffering, Carberry said. She believed the clients she worked with died with dignity, and none had ever brought up the topic of euthanasia.
It was through her work with the Farewell Trust through Hospice Marlborough that Sarah Carberry changed her mind on euthanasia.
She was not convinced there had been enough discussion for an End of Life Choice Bill to pass, but was glad the decision would go to a referendum.
“I don’t know what I would write,” she said.
“I believe everyone has a choice, but … I need to experience end of life, no matter how hard it is.”
