Regards, Mike B) ************ TIFFANY LAURIE
A Rockingham couple who have watched their terminally ill son waste away in hospital for the past five weeks want doctors to be allowed to help him die with dignity.
Karen Spanbroek's son Michael was admitted to a Perth private hospital five weeks ago with severe bleeding in his brain caused by seizures that usually mark the final stage of juvenile Huntington's disease.
Michael's stepfather, Bill, said the family decided to speak out because of the drama surrounding brain- damaged Florida woman Terri Schiavo and the legal and legislative battles between those who support her right to life or her right to die.
Michael, described as an avid soccer fan with a cheeky sense of humour, was diagnosed with the inherited disease eight years ago.
Now 29, he barely clings to life. Doctors told his mother and step- father last weekend he had only days left to live.
The tubes that have kept him alive for five years have been removed because his organs no longer function properly and cannot accept food, fluid or oxygen.
But still he lives, lying motionless except for the occasional breath. His family and hospital staff can do little apart from keeping his prone body comfortable and administer drugs which prevent further seizures and provide pain relief.
Mrs Spanbroek said her son was a "courageous, incredible boy" but allowing him to wither away was "senseless".
She said his final wish was to "slip away peacefully" and donate his brain to medical science to help try to find answers to the disease. *********************** full: http://www.thewest.com.au/20050326/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto130782.html
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