Sick but not terminal, father chooses to die

You could call it a Last Supper. Film showed Jeffrey Specter, aged 54, enjoying a meal with Elaine, his wife of 23 years, his three daughters, Keleigh, 21, Courtney, 19, and Camryn, 15, and friends.
All are smiling. Two days later, Specter was dead, having ended his life at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

In a last interview, he said: “I know I am going too early. I am jumping the gun. Do not judge me.”

The businessman from Lytham St Annes had a cancerous tumour on his spine but was not terminally ill. Against the wishes of his family, he chose to die because he feared he would become paralysed. “It is in the best interests of my family,” he said.

A keen sportsman, Specter was first diagnosed with the inoperable growth more than six years ago after complaining of back and neck pains. Considering himself “a walking time bomb,” he contacted Dignitas to arrange his death.

But he delayed the move until his youngest daughter had taken her final high school exams.

“I put one date off, but I was going downhill,” he said. “I felt the illness had crossed the red line. Friends and my family have urged me not to go through with it.”

A statement from his family said in part: “Early this year, Jeffrey’s condition deteriorated to an extent that he believed he would soon be completely paralysed. Accordingly, he made an appointment to go to Dignitas. This was a difficult and painful time but as a family we supported his decision.”

Euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in Britain, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

However, Parliament is currently scrutinising an Assisted Dying Bill, which could lead to an easing of the present strictures.

Lord Falconer’s proposed legislation would allow someone diagnosed as having six months or less to live to be given a prescription for drugs that would end their lives.

It was “completely wrong,” he said, that terminally ill people should not have the option to end their lives painlessly and with dignity.

Opponents have expressed fears that ill, elderly and dependent people might feel under pressure to end their lives and remove a burden of care from their relatives. They believe the Bill, however restrictive, would be the start of a “slippery slope.”

Dr Peter Saunders, campaign director of Care Not Killing, said: “The vast majority of people with cancer actually do not wish to kill themselves but rather want support and care to go on living for as long as possible.”

A spokesman for the British Medical Association said: “The BMA remains firmly opposed to legalising assisted dying.”

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When John and Audrey Air retired, they asked their daughter, Christine Lillico, to manage their savings. She did, by stealing £78,000 (Sh11.8 million) and rendering them penniless.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that over a period of six years she bought an Xbox, sportswear, photographic equipment and hardware, wrote cheques and withdrew cash.

It was calculated that the amount of money she stole was the same as she and her brother would have inherited and Judge Baird ordered that she pay her brother his half — £39,000 (Sh5.9 million) — within six months.

Said the judge: “You plundered those savings. The result was that when your father died in 2014 he was in debt and that caused him great distress.”

He sent Lillico, 47, to prison for 20 months.

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A visitor to the rural areas sees an old man sitting outside a pub dangling a line in a bucket of water. “What are you doing?” he asks. “Fishing,” the old man says.

Poor old fellow, the visitor thinks, and invites him inside for a drink.

As they sip their whiskies, the visitor turns to the old man and gently asks, “So how many did you catch today?”

“You’re the eighth,” the old man says.

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A businessman needs a large sum to clinch a deal, so goes to church to pray for the money. Nearby, an old lady is praying for Sh100 to pay off a debt.

The businessman takes out his wallet and presses a Sh100 note into the hand of his neighbour, who leaves the church, overjoyed.

The businessman then closes his eyes and prays: “Now, Lord, that I have your undivided attention …”

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A Catholic priest and a rabbi meet at a village feast and the usual teasing begins.

“This ham is really delicious,” the priest says. “I know it’s against your religion but we all have our weaknesses. So tell me, Rabbi, when are you going to break down and try it?”

The rabbi grins. “At your wedding, Father.”

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