‘It was a blessing:’ Nanaimo widow strongly supports medically assisted dying
NANAIMO — A Nanaimo man’s widow says medically assisted dying offered her husband a choice to end a cycle of misery, and it’s a choice made more on Vancouver Island than anywhere else in Canada.
Chronic pain caused by a rare genetic disorder became too much for 82-year-old Ernie Warr to handle. His wife Mary said that led to his decision to undergo a medically-assisted death in 2017.
She said the moment her husband introduced the idea will be forever etched in her memory.
“We were driving up the highway and he said ‘Chris (family doctor) offered me dying with dignity,’ and I just burst into tears,” Warr told NanaimoNewsNOW. “I said ‘Oh my gosh, he’s just offered you a gift.’”