h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

10 years ago this October my father had a major stroke. By the time the ambulance got to him he was, technically, dead. They resuscitated him because that is what they are trained to do, despite the fact that he had not been breathing for more than 8 minutes and would have been brain-damaged if he had lived. He was kept alive on a ventilator for 12 - 18 hours, but died without regaining consciousness. Bearing in mind the fact that he would not have had quality of life if he *had* lived, I feel it would have been better if the ambulancemen hadn't bothered to resuscitate him, but they did their job.

A few weeks ago my father-in-law, who is dying of prostate cancer, contracted an infection and became seriously ill. The doctor knew that his condition with the prostate cancer would only get worse, so he wanted to know the family wishes if Dad should have a cardiac arrest. Bearing in mind that he doesn't have long to live we all (that's Richard's mum, Richard, Richard's brother and me) gave our approval to DNR. Fortunately Dad recovered and will be coming home today. But we were glad that they consulted us about it.