NZ Mother dies after power cut to her house
- Thread starter Saje
- Start date
Plenty of people hesitate to go to emergency rooms or even visit doctors because they can't afford it. Many of them end up seriously ill or..yes...even dead. They are generally people who aren't poor enough...yet...to get free health insurance. And let's not forget that her doctor told he she could be ok WITHOUT that oxygen. Maybe her family thought she was just having some anxiety. Or maybe they were obedient. Let me tell you, my mother made some medical decisions for herself that I disagreed with and I didn't DARE interfere.
I would bet a dollar to a donut that if this story were dug into, we would find a formerly middle class person in serious financial hardship resulting from illness and the cost of medical care, with a financial limit reached to a point where there just wasn't any more money to pluck from the sky. Medical issues have sent more middle income people into poverty in the USA than any other issue. Call me psychic, what can I say.
I would bet a dollar to a donut that if this story were dug into, we would find a formerly middle class person in serious financial hardship resulting from illness and the cost of medical care, with a financial limit reached to a point where there just wasn't any more money to pluck from the sky. Medical issues have sent more middle income people into poverty in the USA than any other issue. Call me psychic, what can I say.
Maybe so, but calling an ambulance when someone is in distress, or if they have a medical device that uses power and the power is cut off or goes out is just common sense...I don't care if my mom or dad begged me not to call one, if they were in distress or whatever, one would be called...and I WOULD NOT hesitate to pick up the phone
Here's another scenario: She was one of those exotically eccentric millionaires who lives as though she is poverty stricken, saves and scimps all her life, buys nothing for herself and tells no one except her immediate family. There she is, stuggling to breathe and her son decides to forgo calling an ambulance so he can inherrit all of her vast estate. He may have even gotten her worked up or slipped her a little nip of someting to tip her over the edge. If she was well enough to be at home, then I am suspicious that her breathing problem was the sole cause of her death. But, by all appearances, the police buy the whole story and the ME doesn't check for heavy metals in her autopsy lab tests. I think there can be more here than meets the eye. 
Ah, yes, the 'common sense' doctrine. A close cousin to the 'personal resposibility' doctrine. Otherwise known as the 'if you didn't do what I think I would have done in that situation, you're an idiot and you deserved whatever happened to you' clause.
The struggle for air thing, though - it's not that simple. Someone who's dangerous ill from cardiac and respiratory problems isn't neccessarily struggling for breath and obviously in distress, particularly if they're stoic by personality. Most of the damage that will kill them is being done silently and invisibly, to their heart.
The struggle for air thing, though - it's not that simple. Someone who's dangerous ill from cardiac and respiratory problems isn't neccessarily struggling for breath and obviously in distress, particularly if they're stoic by personality. Most of the damage that will kill them is being done silently and invisibly, to their heart.
New Zealand has universal health care. Cost is not the same issue there as it would be in the United States. Calling the abulance will not cost you anything nor will calling the doctor.
The cost arguement for not calling the doctor is not a valid one... it wouldn't have cost her anything.
Behaving stoic while slowling suffocating would be counter to even the most basic of human reactions when we begin to loose oxygen. If nothing else her breathing would become much more ragged and the look on her face would be enough. And through reading the story the family apparently told the contractor the woman needed to power to survive... in this case since they had already explained that to somebody else would they not be aware of that exact problem themselves?
The cost arguement for not calling the doctor is not a valid one... it wouldn't have cost her anything.
Behaving stoic while slowling suffocating would be counter to even the most basic of human reactions when we begin to loose oxygen. If nothing else her breathing would become much more ragged and the look on her face would be enough. And through reading the story the family apparently told the contractor the woman needed to power to survive... in this case since they had already explained that to somebody else would they not be aware of that exact problem themselves?
You amaze me. You talk about being stoic lol you have never seen someone struggle for air then. If you had you would not be making this argument. And as Shakry stated there is universal heath care and as the story goes they were in fear or they would not have toled the power guy that. You see you need to read the story before a rush to judgment. If they had enough fear of a problem to tell the power official and there is universal health care then who is at fault? I have known many people with breathing difficulty and trust me when they can not get air they are anything but stoic.
You need to accept that 2 people can read the same story, come to 2 different opinions, and both opinions contain some validity. I read that story, I disagreed with you. There is not one basic "can't breathe, dying" reaction that all people have. If this woman was indeed having trouble breathing, needed the generator and was deprived of it, she could have died of cardiac problems caused by the lack of help with her breathing while never gasping, wheezing, etc. I don't know that this is what happened, but it happens to many people so it's certainly possible.
Speaking of rushing to judgement - I really wish that people would not try to win arguments by accusing their opponent of lacking experience in X situation. I have no desire to play the "let's compare sob stories" with anyone. My opinions are based on personal experience or I would not express them. Relating specifics is not going to be more convincing as anyone can lie quite easily online. The "if you disagree with me, you must never have X" ploy is wrong. It implies the other person is speaking from ignorance, and attempts to win the argument by default. It's a cheap tactic.
Speaking of rushing to judgement - I really wish that people would not try to win arguments by accusing their opponent of lacking experience in X situation. I have no desire to play the "let's compare sob stories" with anyone. My opinions are based on personal experience or I would not express them. Relating specifics is not going to be more convincing as anyone can lie quite easily online. The "if you disagree with me, you must never have X" ploy is wrong. It implies the other person is speaking from ignorance, and attempts to win the argument by default. It's a cheap tactic.