Brittany Maynard’s Husband Defends Buying Suicide Drug That Killed Her

National   |   Sarah Zagorski   |   Jan 16, 2015   |   1:02PM   |   Washington, DC

In November 2014, 29-year-old Brittany Maynard received national attention when she legally committed suicide with a fatal dose of phenobarbital. After suffering from severe headaches, Brittany Maynard found out she had stage II glioblastoma multiforme and had up to ten years to live.

However, after she had surgery, doctors found out that she had the most deadly form of brain cancer, stage IV glioblastoma multiforme. The cancer usually kills its victims in a matter of months.

After her diagnosis, Brittany decided that she wanted to move from her California home to Oregon so that she could have access to the “death with dignity” prescription. Now Maynard’s husband is speaking out about her death for the first time.

USA Today shares more:

Maynard’s husband, Dan Diaz, spoke about her final day and what life’s been like since her death in an interview with Meredith Vieira.

Diaz said Maynard knew it was her “time to go” after she experienced another seizure on the morning of Nov.1.

brittanymaynard4While it was a “struggle” to let Maynard go, Diaz said he couldn’t ask his wife to suffer for him or anyone else.

“The seizure that morning was a reminder of what she was risking because what was coming next was losing her eyesight, becoming paralyzed and an inability to speak. And then she would essentially be trapped in her own body,” Diaz told Vieira.

While Maynard was checking items off her bucket list, her husband told Vieira he went to the drug store to pick up the medication that would soon end his wife’s life.

He said she took the medication at home after walking with her family and dog. Within 5-minutes of taking the mixture of sedatives, respiratory system depressants and water, Maynard was asleep in her bed and 30-minutes later she was gone, according to Diaz.

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“It truly was the most peaceful experience that you could ever hope for when you talk about a person’s passing,” Dan told Meredith. “I carry (her driver license) with me and any time I open my wallet I see her smiling face.”

Although Maynard’s terminal cancer was incredibly tragic, assisted suicide is an extremely dangerous practice. This is because underneath the kind-sounding “Compassion & Choices” organization that Brittany worked with is a group that preys upon the sick and elderly. For example, the organization promotes VSED (“voluntary stop eating and drinking) on its website.

And they’ve even published a book about it. The booklet says, “Some call us because they feel overwhelmed by the symptoms of chronic and progressive illnesses that fill their days with misery and suffering. There are also those who may not be seriously ill but are simply ‘done.’ After eight or nine decades of life, they want information about ways to gently slip away in a peaceful and dignified manner.”

In other words, this organization, which was once called the Hemlock society, advocates that even people who are not terminally ill should have the “right “to die. This is already happening in the Netherlands and Belgium where the mentally ill are being euthanized.

Currently, “Compassion & Choices” and euthanasia activists are working to pass assisted suicide legislation in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Montana and New Mexico.