Wild and precious life
Subtitle: a mother's promise to honour her daughter's memory
By: Deborah Ziegler
Published: 2016
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9781785033025; 9781473529212
Subjects: Death and burial; Families; Family; Cancer; Assisted suicide; Brain; Patients; Family relationships; Mothers and daughters
Description: On 6 October 2014, a video of Brittany Maynard was posted to YouTube. The first words she utters, "The thoughts that go through your mind when you find out you have so little time is everything you need to say to everyone that you love." Wearing a simple black sweater, face rounded and puffy from the prescribed steroids to alleviate the pain, Brittany explains why she has chosen to end her life by her own hand, rather than waiting for the brain tumour to rob her of everything that defines who she is. Less than a month later, Brittany died in her bed surrounded by close family and friends, having taken the lethal drugs provided to her by the State of Ohio in accordance with their 'Death with Dignity' laws. Wild and Precious Life is Brittany's incredibly moving and heart-breaking true story as told by her mother, who travelled with her on the painful journey towards accepting and embracing mortality. Interspersed and paralleled with memories from Brittany's childhood, this book examines and highlights the complex relationships between mother and daughter, life and death, and holding on or letting go.