Ideas worth spreading

My mother's final wish -- and the right to die with dignity

1,463,379 views |

Elaine Fong |

TEDxSanFrancisco

• October 2017

After a terminal cancer diagnosis upended 12 years of remission, all Elaine Fong's mother wanted was a peaceful end of life. What she received instead became a fight for the right to decide when. Fong shares the heart-rending journey to honor her mother's choice for a death with dignity -- and reflects on the need to explore our relationship to dying so that we may redesign this final and most universal of human experiences.

After a terminal cancer diagnosis upended 12 years of remission, all Elaine Fong's mother wanted was a peaceful end of life. What she received instead became a fight for the right to decide when. Fong shares the heart-rending journey to honor her mother's choice for a death with dignity -- and reflects on the need to explore our relationship to dying so that we may redesign this final and most universal of human experiences.

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxSanFrancisco, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

Learn more about the death with dignity law and which US states have passed legislation.

Donate to Death With Dignity to support the rights of people with a terminal illness.

About the speaker

Elaine Fong

See speaker profile

Elaine Fong is endlessly curious about the role of design in the human journey and how global conversations can inspire new ways of thinking.

BJ Miller and Shoshana Berger | Simon & Schuster, 2020 | Book

A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death

A supportive, practical and approachable book on end of life planning.

Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman | Netlfix, 2018 | Watch

Facing an inevitable outcome, terminally ill patients meet extraordinary medical practitioners seeking to change our approach to life and death. This short documentary shows the intimate and personal struggle for reconciling our relationship to death and dying, acceptance and loss, and care and compassion in our final days.

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxSanFrancisco, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

Learn more about the death with dignity law and which US states have passed legislation.

Donate to Death With Dignity to support the rights of people with a terminal illness.