Fitzmaurice was thirty-four years old when a neurologist diagnosed the disease (Motor Neurone) and told him that he had three to four years to live. Gradually, he became confined to a wheelchair and eventually he lost the use of his arms and his ability to breathe on his own. In Ireland at the time, MN patients were not routinely ventilated. One physician advised him that only two, very wealthy people had been able to afford home ventilators. Another physician asked why he would want to ventilate, since he was “only going to get worse”. Rather than accept the physicians’ suggestion that Fitzmaurice, essentially, prepare to die, his family rallied and discovered that the Irish health services would in fact pay for a home ventilator. He was subsequently outfitted not only with a ventilator that enabled him to live at home, but also with computer eye-gaze technology that allowed him to write, drive his wheelchair, email, and even direct his films. He lived until October of 2017, nine years after he was first diagnosed.
It’s Not Yet Dark’s focus is on the joys of a fully lived life and the drive that allows the author to continue it.Anyone contemplating entering the medical profession or medical professionals, anyone interested in end-of-life studies or in the creative life, would benefit from and be moved by this book.
Verdict: Suitable for study at Senior Level
I enjoyed reading this poetically written little book. I can't picture my teenage boy enjoying it (except maybe for the frequent mentions of girls/kissing/sex in the chapters dealing with his teenage and twenties!)
Paul T, Co.Carlow
Thought-provoking argument in the "My Country" chapter, where the author talks about the two Irish consultants who try to convince him to agree to turning off his ventilator; that his life is not worth prolonging. I think this is a valuable little book to iniciate discussions around the topic of Euthanasia.
Angela P, Co.Kilkenny