BBC interveiw with Esther Rantzen.
I have just listened to the BBC Breakfast programme and the interview with Esther Rantzen. The BBC correspondent for legal affairs was first interviewed about the contrasting circumstances in the two cases of the mothers who have helped their children to die. In the Inglis case, the child was unconscious and could not express his wishes, which is why the mother was given a lengthy jail sentence. In Kay's case, he said, the circumstances were entirely different because Lynn expressed her wish to die and Kay spent an hour trying to change her mind. The judge strongly criticised the prosecution service for charging her with attempted murder.
When introducing Esther, the interviewer began by stating that there is a misconception in the public mind about ME. He didn't specify what that misconception is. Esther replied by saying that the illness could be devastating, whilst some people recover in months.
When asked about her daughter, she said that she had lived in a darkened room and was ill for 14 years. (When, of course, she recovered with the 3 day Lightning Course ! Not stated, well, not quite.) Esther said the difference between Emily and Lynn was that Lynn was in constant pain.
The interviewer asked where the illness comes from. Esther replied that opinion is divided. She said it could be started by a common virus, which some think mght become an underlying problem. She then went on to say that IF SHE COULD HAVE MET THE FAMILY SHE WOULD HAVE TOLD THEM THAT THERE IS
LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. :Retro mad:
I thought this was cruel! In other words, Kay was wrong to do what she did. Even if she thought this it should never have been broadcast. Was she thinking of the Lightning Process? I don't think an experienced communicator like Esther should have said this.
She continued by saying that 20% recover, although 20% stay severely affected.
A mother, she said, was never happier than her unhappiest child and that Kay lived in anguish everyday.
She finished by saying that Kay will now serve a life sentence knowing that she had helped take her daughter's life.
I was not happy with this interview. The almost-unspoken message that I detected was one of criticism. Of course, Esther is advocating the Lightning Process as she says it cured Emily, so it is easy to understand what she is really thinking.
Perhaps someone else watched this and will have a different opinion, but I felt it was a wasted opportunity to high light the seriousness of the situation. I really wasn't happy with it.
Esther is President of Youth With ME.
