Letter: At the end of useful life

Letter: At the end of useful life

THE letters about "waiting to die" (19 March) omitted one important point: that what happens to the elderly is a relative question, not an absolute one concerning only them. As an 83-year-old widower, I have finished my useful - and worthwhile - life in spite of being luckily still very fit and able to look after myself. But I am deaf, easily tired and confused, and so unable to do even unpaid serious work.

I have no desire to linger on once I get ill, taking up the time of doctors and nurses which should be available to younger people with much of their useful lives before them. So I have joined the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, and carry their card. This makes it clear that no effort should be made to keep me alive if I have a serious accident or fall seriously ill. I believe many people of my age feel the same.

JOHN WRIGHT

West Wittering, West Sussex