Brittany Maynard Ends Her Life

Current Events
As discussed in an earlier story on OK WASSUP! Brittany was diagnosed with stage IV glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of terminal brain cancer that provided her with no hope and only months to live.  Doctors predicted that the last months of her life would be excruciatingly painful and filled with suffering.  So, instead of succumbing to the darkness of the inevitable pain, Brittany decided to take a different route.

She moved to the “right to die” State of Oregon, created a bucket list of fun things she always wanted to accomplish in life, then chose November 1, 2014 as the day she would take on death, before death could take on her.

In a video that went viral (receiving 8.8 million views to date), Maynard said she wanted to “die with dignity,” focusing a national spotlight on the growing “death with aid” movement.  “My glioblastoma is going to kill me and that’s out of my control,” she told PEOPLE last month. “I’ve discussed with many experts how I would die from it and it’s a terrible, terrible way to die.  So being able to choose to go with dignity is less terrifying.”

“For people to argue against this choice for sick people really seems evil to me,” she continued. “They try to mix it up with suicide and that’s really unfair, because there’s not a single part of me that wants to die.  But I am dying.”

Current Events
Last week Brittany seemed to have a late change of heart, releasing a video saying she no longer planned to adhere to a set date for her death.  “I still feel good enough, and I still have enough joy, and I still laugh and smile with my family and friends enough that it doesn’t seem like the right time right now,” she explained.

However, her 11th hour change of plans was only short lived, as 29-year-old Brittany Maynard ended her life as scheduled last Saturday night.

“Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love,” she wrote in a farewell post on Facebook. 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.  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!”