Send an urgent message to Canadian legislators urging them to stop expanding assisted suicide

(LifeSiteNews) — On Sunday, June 23, 15-year-old Jack Dolan did a backflip off Stone Pier in Margate, Kent, while hanging out at the beach with his friends. A student at Howard School in Medway, England, Jack was showing off for several friends and his girlfriend – it was his first trip to the beach without his parents due to his ADHD. The teenager was knocked out cold when he hit the water, and even though he floated face down with bubbles coming out of his mouth, his friends thought at first that he was joking. Then, he sank. 

Jack was underwater for eight minutes before he was rescued by a kayaker. His friends called emergency services; his girlfriend called his mother. Jack was attended to by paramedics, and then airlifted to King’s College Hospital, where MRI scans indicated damage to much of his entire brain. He also had a collapsed lung and began suffering from an infection. Doctors told the family that he was in a vegetative state and told them to say their goodbyes. But when they pulled him from life support, something amazing happened – something that stunned the doctors.  

Jack began breathing on his own. 

READ: Margo Naranjo wants her hydration, nutrition to continue: court document 

At first, the doctors’ optimism was cautious – while this was a positive sign, it only meant for certain that Jack’s brain stem was still working. But in the weeks since, other signs of recovery have emerged. Jack turned to his mother Lisa and spoke his first word since the fateful accident: “Help.” Then he began to wiggle his toes, move his arms, squeeze when instructed to, and he even smiled when the Doland family dog, Chewbacca, climbed onto his bed and licked him.  

“He is so strong,” Dave Dolan told the press. “He got hold of his mum’s arm and said ‘help.’ The nurses cried. The doctors really don’t seem to know what is going on. Jack is very agitated. His arms are moving, and he has started to wiggle his toes. Before we felt there wasn’t much hope, but now Jack will lead the way.” The chances of Jack’s recovery still seem slim, but he has already proven the medical experts wrong every step of the way, and the Dolans hope that oxygen therapy could help their son regain some brain function and are asking for a reassessment of Jack’s condition. They are currently fundraising for medical costs.  

“He is still life-limited,” Dave Dolan said. “We think he can hear, but he can’t convert the speech. He definitely knows his mum’s voice, though. It’s a lot to take in, but we are feeling more positive.” 

Jack’s case is yet another example of how essential it is for family members to fight for their loved ones within the medical system – and to push for reassessments in difficult situations where brain trauma is involved. Earlier this month, LifeSiteNews covered the case of Margo Naranjo, a young woman who suffered severe brain injury in a car accident in Texas. Her mother recently released a video to Facebook announcing the family’s intention to withdraw her feeding tube – which she referred to as “life support” – which would end her life by denying her food and water. Margo was sitting next to her mother throughout this video, opening and closing her mouth, moving her yes. I wondered, watching the video, if Margo could understand what her mother was saying. 

After coverage of this public announcement, Margo was removed from the guardianship of her parents, and court documents obtained by LifeSiteNews indicated that Margo expressed a desire to live: 

Additionally, the home health care workers represent that they have created a system with Margaret to answer Yes or No questions by turning her head left or right. Reportedly when asked by home health workers and Adult Protective Services whether Margaret wished to discontinue treatment and go on hospice, she represented that she wanted to continue food, water, and medical treatment.

Perhaps Margo could hear her mother. She appears to have been conscious enough to express her desire for life. After all, doctors thought there was no hope for Jack, either – until he managed to utter a single word to his mother: “Help.” What a powerful and poignant reminder of what we owe to the most vulnerable among us. 

Send an urgent message to Canadian legislators urging them to stop expanding assisted suicide