Brittany Maynard Sent Email Before She Died

It was message of support to woman who tried to help her dad die
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 4, 2014 3:25 PM CST
Brittany Maynard Sent Email Before She Died
This undated file photo provided by the Maynard family shows Brittany Maynard, who chose to die on Nov. 1.   (AP Photo/Maynard Family, File)

A former nurse who is now an advocate for assisted suicide says one of her most cherished possessions is an email of support she got from Brittany Maynard, who chose to die on Nov. 1 before brain cancer overwhelmed her. But what makes the email special for Barbara Mancini is that Maynard sent it to her just before she died, reports People. "It comforted me to see your work and the power of your story," the 29-year-old Maynard wrote. "I wish I could have had the pleasure of meeting you in person. This letter will have to do." (Accounts differ on whether Mancini received her email—a response to one she had sent—on the day Maynard died or on the previous day.)

By "your story," Maynard was referring to Mancini's own high-profile brush with assisted suicide. Last year, she was prosecuted for handing her 93-year-old father a bottle of prescription morphine he had requested while in hospice. After he drank it, a hospice nurse called police, and Mancini's father underwent four days of aggressive treatment in the hospital in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to save his life, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. Felony charges of attempting to aid a suicide were eventually dropped, and Mancini now travels the country as part of the Death With Dignity movement to change state laws. "Stories like yours and mine put human faces on a controversial topic that many politicians are happy to sweep under the rug," wrote Maynard. (More Brittany Maynard stories.)

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