Final Exit Network

Ensuring Death with Dignity

Hundreds gather to talk about end-of-life issues Ila DeLuca talks with Charles Burkholder of Green Valley after her presentation December 8th at the East Center.

By Ellen Sussman • Special to the Green Valley News

Organizers of the talk about end-of-life issues were hoping to fill 120 seats at the East Social Center, but as the time neared the crowds just kept coming. In the end, 230 people showed up, and others were turned away because of fire codes.

The meeting drew people from as far away as Oro Valley, Patagonia and Sierra Vista to talk about a subject some find difficult to raise with spouses or family: Choosing your own path right up to, and including, death.

“If you want to suffer at the end of your life, have at it, but let us have our choice,” said Ila DeLuca, a founding member of Final Exit Network told the audience. DeLuca, 87, is a former Green Valley resident who now lives in California.

Final Exit Network believes “adults have the basic human right to end their lives when they suffer from a fatal or irreversible illness or intractable pain and the future holds only hopelessness and misery.”

The group does not encourage anyone to end their life, does not provide the means to do so, and does not actively assist in a person’s death. DeLuca said the key to remaining in control is to plan ahead.

“Not planning can have woeful consequences,” she said. “Planning for death is not ‘if’ planning, it’s ‘when’ planning.”

DeLuca said suicide has been thought of as cowardly, but in reality it requires a great deal of courage.

Host and organizer John Fanning read a letter mailed to him the same day a friend took his life.

“… I lost my ability to function without constant fear,” the man wrote. “I could not eat. I could not sleep. But more importantly, I lost my dignity. I have no reason to suffer needlessly any longer. Today is my day to choose peace over fear and anxiety.”

“Thank you. And thanks to those in the Final Exit Network for all they have done for me,” Fanning read.

People who come to Final Exit Network because of pain or suffering are screened and are not encouraged one way or the other.

“Final Exit’s focus is on those suffering in the here and now — and not waiting for legislation,” DeLuca said. “Final Exit can help you to be in control of the end of your life … it’s important to act before the window of opportunity closes.”

She spoke about the legal parts of planning for the end of life, including a Living Will, a Durable Power of Attorney, and choosing the right person who understands your wishes and has the emotional strength to make sure they are carried out.

Though many may not agree with Final Exit Network’s purpose, “Too often survivors forget it’s your life, not theirs,” DeLuca said.

“It’s about making peace with dying.”

Contact Green Valley freelance reporter Ellen Sussman at ellen2414@cox.net.