Anne Fomenoff took exception over the wording of a media release concerning the passing of her daughter Gloria Taylor earlier this month. Taylor, a former Castlegar resident who suffered with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease, had been the focus of an issue relating to her successful legal battle over the right to die with dignity.
The following letter from Fomenoff to the Kelowna Daily Courier was published on October 13, and subsequently brought to the Castlegar News by Fomenoff, a Castlegar resident.
Anger was what we felt when we saw the headline. When we read the headline that claimed Gloria was a “suicide activist” we were angry and upset.
To set the record straight, Gloria was not an activist for “suicide” – Gloria fought to change the law to allow for assisted dying.
Suicide is a violent death, committed alone and in secret. Suicide leaves surviving family members devastated and grief-stricken.
Gloria hated the word suicide and always corrected people, that she preferred to use the terms “death with dignity” and “doctor-assisted dying.”
Goria was in the hospital for several days, and during that time, I never left her side. She was never alone. Friends and family members visited her. Her sons were able to say goodbye. Her death was peaceful and without suffering.
Although Gloria did not need the assistance of a doctor to end her life, she firmly believed in choice in dying to the very end, and our family supported her 100 per cent.
Gloria died Thursday, Oct. 4, at 12:10 p.m.
We are proud that Gloria won the battle for her cause, swiftly and precisely – the right and the choice to die with dignity, for all people.
