29 year old Brittany Maynard will take her own life in about 22 days. She chose to kill herself on the first of November, so she wouldn’t miss her husbands birthday, on the 30th of October. But it’s not because she wants to die. On the contrary, she wants to live. “There’s not a cell in my body that is suicidal or that wants to die. I want to live,” she told People.
After she got married, Brittany started suffering from excruciatingly painful headaches, only to discover, last January, that her actual ailment is a brain tumor, grade II astrocytoma to be exact. Doctors gave her about ten years to live.
A few months later, it got even worse. Despite surgery, and treatment, it evolved into glioblastoma multiform (GBM), the deadliest type of brain cancer.
After she heard how horrible dying from her disease would be- vomiting, nausea, sizures- she decided to die with dignity. She and her family relocated to Portland, where assisted suicide is legal, in order to act under the Death with Dignity Act.
Because euthanasia is legal in a handful of states and countries, Brittany felt that she was fortunate enough to have been able to move to Portland. She did, however, feel that it was not as easy for others to be able to allocate finances in order to be able to do the same. The 29 year old decided to act, and with what little time she has left help those who were similar positions. She joined Compassion & Choices, and end of life advocacy organization, to create The Brittany Maynard Fund. She was thus able to propel herself onto a platform where she can share her story with others. She will also be able to help countless others who wish to die with dignity.
She believes that by choosing to die at your own will when facing a terminal disease not only gives you a chance to say goodbye to loved ones, but to also avoid a painfully slow death. She wholeheartedly believes this is something everyone deserves.
“I will die upstairs in my bedroom that I share with my husband, with my mother and my husband by my side, and pass peacefully,” Brittany says.
Watch Brittany’s story below.
