We became aware of the true value of those whom we took for granted in our daily life, and how they would rally round us with compassion and comfort.
by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne in Montreal
Through my training as a doctor, my experience as a husband and father, and my reflections on my deepest ideals, I want to join my voice with those who reject the new methodology- that life is only a disposable commodity to be used up and tossed into the recycling bin. ~ Dr. Paul Saba, Made to Live, A Physician’s Journey to Save Life
With 3 million dead across the world from the dreaded COVID virus, there is seemingly an added contention to the question, to which I must confess I do not have the answer. However, I feel some do, at least from what I have read of them. In an article I read in New Statesman (19-25 March 2021) Dr. Jim Down, author of the book Life Support and COVID front line physician at University College Hospital in North London, gives some insight into what it means to keep bodies alive while everything is shutting down inside them. In spite of overflowing intensive care units and patients who are certain to die, his instincts are to admit everyone, even those at death’s door, to the ICU, even if, in his words: “It’s not a pleasant way to die”. My take from this relentless tenacity is that the superior human quality - of never giving up on life - is ingrained in such healers. To them it is not just the inherent purpose of the medical profession to heal but what matters most is also what Abraham Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature”, not to give up and “pull the plug” in helpless surrender. Dr. Down invented a “fail -safe” system of what he calls “three wise people” that requires an ICU physician to refrain from making a unilateral decision on a “life or death” case and to have consultation with and concurrence of two colleagues even in the most hopeless of situations where ICU’s are overcrowded and one’s visceral instincts and moral persuasion are overly coercive.
This brings me to a separate but tangential dimension – euthanasia – which nonetheless shares the same moral imperative of persistent aspiration at the preservation of life. An eminent Quebec physician and founder of The Coalition of Physicians for Social Justice in Montreal, Dr. Paul Saba, in his book Made to Live: A Physician’s Journey to Save Life says in his book: “ The Universal Theme is that human life is valuable wherever you are. Whether you are in Africa, whether you are in Bangladesh, whether you are in North America, human life is valuable. In my experience meeting other doctors, the vast majority of physicians I’ve met the vast majority of people I’ve met express strong commitment to the value of human life…if the person can have a few more days, that’s something. It can give time to say goodbye to somebody who needs that closure. I’ve worked in intensive care units where the nurse will say “ there’s nothing more to do. You can just disconnect the ventilator with the family’s permission” and I’ll answer, “well, let’s talk to the family. Let’s see what they want to do, get them involved”.
These two approaches of Dr. Down and Dr. Saba are within the parameters of a common theme, and, when combined, seemingly present both a human and a humanitarian attitude to the value to be placed on life. The fundamental message is that the meaning of life is that we exist to help others at all costs in the preservation of life to the best of our ability and that we ensure their dignity in the process. In his book Dr. Saba details numerous instances where a wrong diagnosis condemned a patient to an untimely death, but where the patient went on to live a life of substantial and normal longevity due to persistent clinical research and medical care of dedicated medical professionals who refused to give up.
COVID-19 may have taught us a simple truth that is embodied in the title of the article in New Statesman quoted above – “ The Pandemic has Shown the Best of Humanity” – and with it the fundamental fact that in our adversity and vulnerability, the angels of our better nature kicked in and we discovered our true nature, that hidden in the deep recesses of our parochial existence of survival and competition for material goods and services, were oceans of altruism and empathy and our love for our fellow beings.
We became aware of the true value of those whom we took for granted in our daily life, and how they would rally round us with compassion and comfort. We also became aware of the qualitative and quantitative statistics of inequality and suffering around the world and the indomitable spirit of the human to take a collective stand against global vulnerability irrespective of our own superior living standards of privilege and superficial values. Perhaps Warren Buffet, one of the most materially successful persons on earth who has succeeded in keeping his feet firmly on the ground despite his riches said it best. He acknowledged that we (at least in the developed world) enjoy the same things in life: eating at the same restaurants; wearing the same types of clothing; driving the same type of car (a modest model in his case despite his vast wealth) and live in the same type of house. Mr. Buffet considers that what distinguishes the true meaning of life is how many people love you and how lovable you are; and how many would come to your assistance if you are in trouble.
Mr. Buffet was spot on, even though he did not particularly mention the pandemic. We discovered how many people cared for us and how many came to our assistance. The meaning of life is to realise this basic fact and to reciprocate in any way we can. Put simplistically, as discussed once by Deepak Chopra, the aim in life for most of us is to be happy and the meaning of life is to attain that happiness. In the ultimate analysis happiness can be achieved only if one lives true to oneself and realises that the ultimate truth in life is not to give up on it, particularly when it comes to the lives of others. Here, the physicians cited in this article score extremely high.
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