To ease a little pain
BMJ 2012; 345 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e6427 (Published 26 September 2012) Cite this as: BMJ 2012;345:e6427- Christopher Burns-Cox, retired consultant physicican, Southend Farm, Wotton-under-Edge, UK
- chris.burns-cox{at}virgin.net
Many years ago, I was asked to see a 90 year old widow who had become a recluse at home because of blackouts.
She lay in comfort on her bed, her chatting punctuated by episodes when she would ask the Lord to receive her soul and cross herself, then become unconscious and pulseless, and her electrocardiogram became flat. I can remember the picture vividly but not her voice.
While we were waiting for the ambulance, she talked of bygone days, including this particular story. Her husband had been the coachman for a local doctor. In the middle of a snowy night, he had been called to see a patient in pain several miles away. Knowing the physical hazards of travel under these conditions, the coachman asked whether the call could be delayed, but the doctor said: “I would go anywhere any time to ease a little pain.”
His words echoed Osler’s “Do the kind thing and do it now” and the story of the Good Samaritan.
I pondered this story. Why had she remembered it particularly? Why did she tell me at this frightening time? Was she hoping I would learn to do likewise?
This story remains lodged in my thoughts, and not only has it affected decisions I have made over many years but also, I hope, helped to imbue others with the same urgency in relieving distress when I used it as a teaching aid.
I wonder how this doctor would have acted regarding recent competent adults asking doctors to ease their suffering before impending and inevitable deaths, to no avail.
The woman’s pacemaker worked perfectly, and she was quickly back to normal.
Notes
Cite this as: BMJ 2012;345:e6427
Footnotes
Patient consent not required (patient anonymised, dead, or hypothetical).