Ceri
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ohwhirlwind.bsky.social
Ceri
@ohwhirlwind.bsky.social
27 followers 100 following 6 posts
Overwhelmed but not discouraged.
Tired. Sapphic.
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ohwhirlwind.bsky.social
I keep thinking about how it could be better here in theory but because you can't have a private account it lacks what I actually used social media for in the first place 15+ years ago — a space to be ~real with the people who I feel most safe to be that around?
January 11, 2025 at 4:02 PM
ohwhirlwind.bsky.social
I really don't know how I feel, but I do know that as a disabled person, I do feel a discomfort in my gut today. It may not be the most poignant or eloquently written essay out there on the topic, but my uneasiness is summarised by these quotes from a BBC interview this week
Nik has motor neurone disease, and says he probably would have chosen assisted dying three years ago if it had been legal. The 53-year-old has been told for the past five years that he is terminally ill and knows he could die tomorrow by choking on food or on his own saliva. "I prided myself on my health and fitness," says Nik, who now uses a motorised wheelchair and breathing apparatus. "Twenty years ago, if you were to say to me that l'd be in a wheelchair, l'd be like 'Nah mate, it's all right. l'd rather go.'" Now Nik says his attitude to life - and death - has changed and he is grateful to have seen his children grow up. His eldest daughter is engaged to be married. Under the proposed law, Nik is concerned that other people suffering terminal illnesses would choose an assisted death and miss out on the joys that more life could bring - even if they are less physically able. Some believe the existence of assisted dying legislation could create an implicit pressure on terminally ill people - even if no-one is actively trying to coerce them. Nik describes this possibility as a "very subtle but very insistent background noise" He thinks people who may feel like a burden to their loved-ones might, for example, choose to "end their lives because they feel like they ought to for their children's sake". "It's the people that are most thoughtful, most considerate - they're the very people that I'm worried about," he adds.
November 29, 2024 at 2:43 PM