Disfigured Woman Who Sought Death Finds It

(AP)  A French woman with a rare, painful and disfiguring facial tumor who had sought doctor-assisted suicide was found dead Wednesday at her home in eastern France, a government official said.

The case of 52-year-old Chantal Sebire had drawn headlines across France and revived a national debate about the right to die.

Sebire, a former schoolteacher and mother of three, was found dead at her home in the eastern town of PlombiGeres-les-Dijon, a government official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The circumstances of her death were not immediately clear.

On Monday, a court in the city of Dijon rejected Sebire's request to be allowed to receive a lethal dose of barbiturates under a doctor's supervision. It refused the request for doctor-assisted suicide because of French law and out of concern for medical ethics.

Unlike in France, euthanasia is legal in both Belgium and the Netherlands, and Luxembourg is in the process of passing a law to allow it. In Switzerland, counselors or physicians can prepare the lethal dose, but patients must take it on their own.

Sebire's case caught France's attention when the media published heartbreaking before-and-after pictures that made her suffering instantly apparent. The tumor burrowed through her sinuses and nasal cavities, causing her nose to swell to several times its original size, and pushing one of her eye sockets out of her head.

Sebire, who has children aged 29, 27 and 13, was diagnosed nearly eight years ago with esthesioneuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer. The illness had left her blind, and with no sense of smell or taste, her lawyer said. She could not use morphine to ease the intense eye pain because of the side effects.

[swwils]

I believe if as an adult an you have a terminal illness and wish to seek an early demise the Government should step aside!

[smilingez50]

So sad. Rest in peace.

[kennergirl]

I can''t even imagine how much pain this poor lady was in. I don''t think any court should be able to tell someone who is terminally ill that they can''t have assisted suicide. No one has to live with their pain except them and no one has to watch them suffer but their family and friends. If a person has presence of mind I think they should be the judge of their own demise.

[olebd]

Our pets have it better than we do in this respect. Euthanization can be a way to go out with dignity.

[grammawhamma]

Many, if not all, life insurance policies are void if the person commits suicide. I wonder if this is also the case in assisted suicide of a terminally ill person. Does anyone know?

[johnpatrick9]

She suffered her purgatory...enough is enough. If man cannot cure and GOD does nothing but watch...what is the point of the mental and physical pain which denigrates the human condition? May she rest in peace and be in a higher plain with an all loving God.

[twogunsono1g]

vIt should be the most basic of human rights to end your life if you suffer from such a condition. We are uncivilized when we prevent such relief for a suffering person.


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Posted by exCoachKen at 11:33 AM : Mar 20, 2008

Just as long as she DID NOT use a gun to do it. Right EXCOACHKEN anything BUT a (gasp) GUN.

two guns son of 1 gun

[tomanyt]

robertkjjj...Would you put your family through the trauma of killing yourself by jumping from a building or bridge?

[tomanyt]

robertkjjj...Would you put your family through the trauma of killing yourself by jumping from a building or bridge?

[robertkjjj]

Not to be glib, but what was keeping her from killing herself? Why not walk out on the freeway or train tracks? No tall buildings in France? Get my drift?