Pubdate: Sat, 15 Jul 2006
Source: Abbotsford News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Hacker Press Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.abbynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1155
Author: James W Breckenridge
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)

WE ALL DESERVE TO BE TREATED WITH DIGNITY

Editor, The News:

Kevin, a member of Abbotsford's homeless community, died last Tuesday night.

His release from the pain of these soulless streets will be mourned 
in the homeless community and those who care to serve the needs of 
these citizens.

Kevin was human and had the flaws that come with that state of being. 
It was his misfortune that one of his flaws was addiction, a scourge 
that devoured his life.

Kevin had serious respiratory problems that were only complicated by 
his addiction. Worse misery lay in his having the wrong addiction.

If you ever doubted the driving power of addiction, consider that 
Kevin knew his addiction would, together with his respiratory 
illness, cause him an early painful death.

Even in the face of this death sentence, Kevin was a helpless 
prisoner of his addiction.

Sadly, Kevin is not unique. I lost a cousin decades ago because he 
could not stay sober (from beer) long enough for life-saving medical treatment.

While the broad majority of his fellow citizens will not notice 
Kevin's passing from the city's indifferent streets, and those 
malignant of spirit will demonstrate this warping with the utterance, 
"Good, one less homeless bum; the rest need to die - the faster, the 
better," the humane will deplore the circumstances of his passing.

It was wrenching to see the suffering inflicted on Kevin by the 
system and, to a lesser degree, society.

I do not know if system and attitude changes would or could have 
granted him a longer life.

I do know our current systems and attitudes condemned him to death 
and made his life at the end extremely miserable and painful, denying 
him any comfort.

Others with a desperate need for caring will die in pain and 
loneliness, killed by the callousness of our society.

Kevin is not the first person I have seen die or dying from the 
complications of a respiratory illness and an ongoing addiction. He 
is the first I have seen with an illegal drug addiction.

Until now, the addiction I have associated with respiratory problems 
has been nicotine, with cigarettes the method these addicts use to 
get their drug fix.

While this group of addicts may not have received a great deal of 
sympathy, they did receive care, consideration and un-begrudged 
medical treatment. Having labelled Kevin as a homeless druggie and 
bum, the system and society judged him as unworthy of solicitude and 
denied him simple mercy.

When you look at the world around you and find it an unfriendly, dark 
and frightening place, remember it is this way because of choices we 
make and have made as a society.

We have made human life the cheapest commodity on the planet and 
created a class of disposable human beings.

The society and behaviour we so deplore is merely the reaping of the 
whirlwind we as a society have chosen to sow.

If we want a better world, we need to build it on a solid foundation 
of love for our fellow man, especially the least among us and those 
in desperate need.

James W Breckenridge

Abbotsford
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