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One Last Goodbye: Sometimes only a mother's love can help end the pain Paperback – 14 April 2011
| Kay Gilderdale (Author) See search results for this author |
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Watching her child die is the hardest thing a mother can ever do. But for Kay Gilderdale, saying a final goodbye to her only daughter Lynn was exceptionally painful: she'd played a part in her death.
Lynn was just 14 when she was struck down by the crippling disease ME, leaving her paralysed and in constant agony. Over the next 17 years, she became desperate to escape her miserable existence, even begging her mum to help her die. So, one night, when Kay found Lynn attempting suicide, she was forced to make an impossible decision. Continue watching her child suffer or help her end the pain?
Eventually, fighting her every instinct, Kay helped her precious daughter take a fatal overdose. But while Lynn was finally free, her mother faced a fresh agony - a possible lifetime behind bars. The highly controversial trial that followed opened a fierce public debate on assisted suicide. Is it murder or mercy?
Here, in her heartbreaking story, Kay reveals the harrowing truth behind the headlines and the desperate lengths a mother will go to for the love of a child.
- Print length352 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherEbury Press
- Publication date14 April 2011
- Dimensions12.7 x 2.29 x 20.32 cm
- ISBN-100091939143
- ISBN-13978-0091939144
Product description
About the Author
Kay was born in Dublin in 1954. The youngest of ten, all she'd ever wanted was a family of her own. After leaving school, she trained as a nurse and went on to have two much-longed-for children, Stephen and Lynn, with her then husband Richard.
Kay now lives alone in East Sussex and is a proud grandmother of two. Kay is a dedicated supporter of The 25% ME Group. The charity exists to support those who have the most severe forms of ME and the people who care for them.
Product details
- Publisher : Ebury Press (14 April 2011)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0091939143
- ISBN-13 : 978-0091939144
- Dimensions : 12.7 x 2.29 x 20.32 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 622,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 354 in Illness & Addiction
- 838 in Ethical Issues
- 1,423 in Living with Cancer & Illnesses Biographies
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However, I am so glad I did. The story is heartbreaking. So much so that several times I continued reading whilst tears were running down my face. But both Lynn and her mother were so strong, so remarkable. Lynn struggled through years of pure torture, made much worse by the medical profession who consistently mistreated her, thinking that her illness was psychological. However despite all her pain, Kay shows in this book the bravery of her daughter, as well as her kind heart and loving nature.
Not to mention the bravery of Kay - who dedicated every moment of her life to trying to help her daughter, before having to face the unimaginable...
This book left me heartbroken. But it also moved me to read of their strength, their love. And it humbled me too - because no matter how much I have suffered over the last 7 years with ME, I have not faced anything close to what Lynn did.
I hope many people read this book. By writing the book, Kay has drawn attention to how severe ME can be, she has drawn attention to the ill treatment ME sufferers face at the hands of medical professions, and she has drawn attention to the lack of understanding, and the lack of research into this illness. Her message needs to be heard, for all of the thousands of sufferers of ME, but especially for the most severe sufferers, like Lynn, who still face mistreatment, and little or no understanding.