After years of suffering from debilitating headaches, Brittany Maynard found out she has brain cancer. At 29, she was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive and lethal form of the disease. She was given a prognosis of six months left to live.
After receiving the news, she and her husband decided to move to Oregon, one of the 5 states in the U.S. that allow doctor-assisted suicide, so that she could choose her own passing and die with dignity.
In her own words, Brittany describes the impact the diagnosis has had on her life and the relief in knowing she has the option to decide when it is time to go. “Seize the day. What’s important to you, what do you care about, what matters. Pursue that – forget the rest.”
For more information about dying with dignity and The Brittany Fund, visit their website here.
Update Nov 1, 2014: Brittany Maynard ended her own life today at her home in Portland, Oregon. She was 29.
“Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love. Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me … but would have taken so much more,” she wrote on Facebook. “The world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher, my close friends and folks are the greatest givers. I even have a ring of support around my bed as I type … Goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward!”
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