Parents of a 30-year-old man who has been in a 11-year-long vegetative state due to a severe head injury and quadriplegia (100% disability) suffered after falling from the fourth floor of an accommodation at Mohali while pursuing higher studies, have had their request to constitute a medical board to examine withdrawal of the Ryles tube through which he has been fed declined by the Supreme Court.
They want to relieve their lone child of suffering through passive euthanasia as doctors promise little chance of recovery. They are neither able to bear his state nor the mounting expenses. However, SC said that the tube’s removal is not part of passive euthanasia and without it, the patient will starve and die. They have asked government to find out if some institution can step in.
With the meagre pension of the father in his early sixties, as the sole income, along with his wife, they have been fighting on to sustain themselves and handle the accumulated medical expenses. Having sold their house in 2021, they have struggled for more than a decade, spent their life’s savings and yet seen no light at the end of what has been a long and arduous journey.
When CanSupport learned of this heart-rending case, our team sprang into action and we reached out to the family that has been living in Delhi-NCR. We conducted our first home visit last week and got to assess the young man’s condition. He is catheterised, tracheostomised and has a pressure sore which we checked up.
We spoke with the parents about how they can care for their bedridden son and answered the queries they had which they had not been able to discuss all these years. We shared the importance of essential palliative care and assured them of our continued support.
If only they had access to necessary information and guidance earlier, they would have been in a calmer headspace and better equipped to manage their difficult circumstance. This is why we persist with our vision as such stories are not uncommon and we must carry on alleviating the stress and suffering of the patients, their caregivers, and families.
