Sanctity of Life

Husband kills self out of grief, then comatose wife regains consciousness Associated PressJan. 21, 2005 02:00 PM ROME - Evoking comparisons to "Romeo and Juliet," a husband in northern Italy killed himself out of grief for his ailing wife, hours before she came out of a coma, Italian state TV reported Friday.RAI state TV said the husband visited his 67-year-old wife daily, sometimes coming to the hospital in Padua as much as four times a day, after she went into a coma after a stroke in September.On Wednesday, the 71-year-old man committed suicide at the couple's Padua-area home, according to RAI and the Italian news agency ANSA. About 12 hours later, the wife emerged from the coma and asked for her husband, ANSA said.ANSA quoted their pastor as saying the husband had told him he was very pessimistic about prospects for his wife's recovery.The husband and wife, who were not identified, had no children. William Shakespeare warned us that parting is such sweet sorrow. All things being equal, this maybe the saddest ending to a love story that I have ever read in a newspaper. I wish it didn’t happen. I wish I never read the woeful tale of self-inflicted tragedy. The more I learn about the circumstances however, the more I appreciate the sanctity of life. The man had told his pastor that he couldn’t bear to see his wife in a non-resuscitate vegetative state. He grew so despondent that he convinced himself that he could not go on living without her. So he killed himself without the pastor’s blessing. While she cling to this thing called life, he exited stage right. It was a grievous crime to pardon the expression. Correct me if I am wrong, his wife did not await him in the hereafter. Presumably, he now waits for her on the other side. The only chance for a blessed reunion, however remote the possibility, was for him to go on living and hope his prayers would be one day be answered. I understand insurmountable grief but I don’t understand the math in this equation. To this day, he remains without her only she is the widow. The husband didn’t have to end his own life, if he had waited one more day. Easy for me to say one more day, huh? This wasn’t Karen Ann Quinlin. This Italian woman had been in a coma only four months. The wife awoke from her coma while police were still on the scene where he committed suicide. The value he placed on his beloved wife’s life stopped extending to his own. Life should be considered precious in all human beings. “Where is my husband?” the wife asked after emerging from the coma. Bedside, a nurse had no choice but to inform her that her husband just committed suicide in grief. In the end, this man needed more support to stay alive than his wife. Love means never having to say you’re sorrowful. It is implied.