Addie O’Neil didn’t have a choice about how she would die.
After being diagnosed with stage 4 endometrial cancer in 2018, O’Neil was in hospice care for two years. Her final week of life was spent in a drug-induced coma to alleviate her pain. Through it all, Addie’s husband of 40 years, Jim, and their children were there.
“We stood vigil, watching the woman we love slowly waste away until thankfully, her heart finally gave out,” said Jim O’Neil, of Lucas County, at the Ohio Statehouse on April 23. Next to him, his daughter Rochelle held a picture of Addie, who died in 2020.
O’Neil is asking Ohio to join 13 states and Washington, D.C., that allow physician-assisted death. A new bill from Rep. Eric Synenberg, D-Beachwood, would legalize the option, but it could face a mountain of opposition in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
“This bill is about choice, a choice only the terminally ill can make for themselves,” O’Neil said.
Hellbound and Down 