Woman with same cancer as Brittany Maynard urges her not to end life in powerful video
As Brittany Maynard made the announcement in a video that she would not be taking her own life this weekend, another woman suffering from the same tumor as the Death with Dignity advocate has reached out.
Connecticut native Maggie Karner speaks about her illness and struggle in the YouTube video titled "A letter to Brittany Maynard." Karner also has glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer, and speaks very candidly and emotionally about her struggles with the disease.
"Brain cancer sucks in a really big way. It's a beast that lurks and prowls, just waiting for the chance to pounce and take away more of our faculties, our everyday joys, and our very lives. But you know what? Death sucks too."
Maynard had become a public advocate for the Death with Dignity movement throughout her struggle, and had originally planned to end her life on November 1. Maynard changed her mind about that date, stating "it doesn't feel like the right time right now."
Karner, though, urges Maynard to reconsider her decision and to "choose life." "If you take your life, the world will lose some of its beauty . . . please don't let cancer get one more second of your life than it desires."
The video was published on October 29 on the Family Institute of Connecticut's YouTube channel. Family Institute of Connecticut says their mission is "to encourage and strengthen the family as the foundation of society and to promote sound, ethical and moral values in our culture and government," according to their website. FIC is also encouraging supporters to vote no on the state's Assisted Suicide bill, the same cause for which Maynard advocates.
Maynard currently resides in Oregon where death with dignity is legal. Recently, Maynard completed items off of her "bucket list," including traveling to the Grand Canyon.
