Final Exit Network, a nonprofit, offers end-of-life resources including articles on Exit Guide Services, Advance Directives, personal stories, and Healthcare Representatives, emphasizing the significance of choosing a suitable healthcare representative aligned with one’s wishes for medical decision-making. Membership offers access to forums and events.
This week we wanted to simply honor Derek Humphry, co-founder of Final Exit Network. There is no better way to do that than share a tribute written by Faye Girsh, close friend of Derek’s and also a co-founder of Final Exit Network.
“Look at this book and let’s talk,” I imagine people saying. Or, “Read the story on page (X) and know that’s what I envision for myself.”
“To be ‘death positive’ doesn’t mean that you are happy about dying.”
Final Exit Network’s blog has had over 105,000 views since its inception.
A “good” death is one in which you exert maximum autonomy over your end-of-life journey. Here are some checklists for what needs to be done.
Recognizing the importance of psychosocial factors to those considering a hastened death led FEN to more explicitly recognize the importance of psychosocial factors when evaluating an applicant’s medical records. By making psychosocial factors more explicit in our criteria, we honor what truly matters to those who reach out to us.
The more “Final Exit” was condemned, the more people bought it who were not afraid to think about death.
I was amazed how life could be prolonged with multiple surgeries, toxic chemotherapy, antibiotics, and tube feeding. Quality of life, pain, cost, and suffering? Rarely discussed. I kept saying to myself, “There must be a better way. But what?”
VSED might not be for everyone, but it is the only chance for some to experience an end to unbearable suffering. Done with careful preparation, medical support, and compassionate caregiving, VSED offers a natural end to life.
