http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/1 … 31204.htmlHe spent his life conducting world-renowned orchestras, but was almost blind and growing deaf – the music he loved increasingly out of reach. His wife of 54 years had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. So Edward and Joan Downes decided to die together.
Downes – Sir Edward since he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 – and his wife ended their lives last week at a Zurich clinic run by the assisted suicide group Dignitas. They drank a small amount of clear liquid and died hand-in-hand, their two adult children by their side. He was 85 and she was 74.
The deaths were a poignant coda to Edward Downes' illustrious musical career, and have reignited a debate in Britain about whether people should be able to help ailing loved ones end their lives.
The couple's children said Tuesday that they died "peacefully and under circumstances of their own choosing" on Friday.
So do you think people have a right to end their own lives whenever they choose? What is the secret of soylent green? Would you ever use a service like this if you were terminal?
