Eight years ago, Joseph Maraachli and his wife, Sana Nader, watched helplessly as their daughter lay dying of a neurodegenerative disease. The doctors at their Canadian hospital had given up all hope and wanted to remove the little girl from life support. Instead, the family convinced them to perform a tracheotomy so they could take the child home to die, surrounded by loved ones. After she got home, the baby lived for six unexpected months before dying peacefully in her parent’s arms.
I can’t even imagine the anguish that this family went through upon discovering that a second child, this time a son, had been stricken with the same horrible condition. Their little boy, Joseph, now lays dying in a Canadian hospital. His parents have requested to take him home, just like his sister years earlier. This time Canadian Consent and Capacity Board has refused and ordered that his life support be withdrawn so he can die in the hospital.
Little Joseph’ s parents have refused to comply with this order. Their attorney is frantically attempting to have the child transferred to Children’s Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. So far, the transfer order has not come through, and Canadian officials are threatening to remove the breathing tube at any moment.
Okay, this makes me very angry, but, sadly, it doesn’t surprise me. As the government gains more control over our lives, parental rights are the first thing to be diminished. The assumption is made that we don’t know how to take care of our children; at least not as well as the government does. All these parents are asking is to take their precious child home to die. Shouldn’t that be a basic human right for every grieving family?
What could possibly be the rationale for the Canadian government to deny them this one little thing? Are they afraid he might die in transit? That performing the tracheotomy might do fatal damage? They are going to remove his life support so he can die, for goodness sake! Surely it would be worth the risk, whatever it was, to allow this family to face death in peace!
Our government can give us all the reassurances it wants, but this is exactly the type of thing that many of us fear with ObamaCare. The so-called “Death Panels” are nothing more than this committee seems to be: a group of bureaucrats who strip families and individuals of the right to make life and death decisions for themselves and their loved ones. This Canadian Consent and Capacity Board is acting exactly like what I feared a “Death Panel” would act.
Please pray that little Joseph will be able to go home. I also pray that they will have a few more months with him (or he will find total healing!) Any parent can tell you that even having a few more hours to spend with a precious child can make a huge difference. And, dying at home, surrounded by familiar things and loving family is so much more dignified than being left to expire in a cold hospital room.
The authorities in Canada are threatening to “pull the plug” at any time. Please pray that the hospital in Detroit will allow Joseph to transfer to them. Maybe there will be a doctor in this country with a new treatment option. Or, perhaps a miracle will occur. At the very least, Joseph will have a chance to go home with his loving family to face his final moments in peace.
Keeping it true! Barb
