* * * Please don't watch the video casually . . . it is graphic and can be quite disturbing. At the very least read the descriptions first * * *
Info on the film
https://www.mededportal.org/publication/785
http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=10114
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dax_Cowart
Link to the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsxaaMbZMtA
Wasn't too graphic. I am super depressed now though.
ReplyDeleteWow. I cannot even image being burned so bad. The treatment must have been horrible, no doubt, and he is not wrong in wanting to die, but this shows that his incredible treatment prevailed with him keeping his life.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I can't even begin to imagine the pain he went through not only from burning, but also from the treatment. But I think it is interesting how he spoke about being happy now that everything is over.
DeleteThis video was Really, really intense. I can't even begin to imagine how awful that must have felt. It was very intense to watch. This video shows how far medicine has come to be able to save people and in the end, the guy was so happy to be alive and to have survived this horror.
ReplyDeleteThe part that really got me was when he told the doctor he wanted to die he wanted him to kill him. Then the doctors lashes back saying basically how dare he ask us to kill him when we are saving his life we are making his life better. If he really wants to die let me perform surgery on his hands so he can pull the trigger on himself and not force the doctors to kill him.
ReplyDeleteMy other question is how could did those workers stand there and put him in this tub and not show any signs of emotion? I would probably lose it since I hate causing pain to anyone or thing. It really takes a special person to work with burns.... something I could never do.
I didn't watch the video, I only read about Dax but what you said about the doctors lashing back at Dax after he said he wanted the doctors to kill him really reminds of Jean-Do in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The doctors are doing their job to save this man and they take it very seriously. It must feel like a slap in the face to have a patient just give up and ask you to kill them. However, given the face that Dax was in such intense pain, I can understand why he would want to die. It would pain me immensly to see someone in such awful pain, I would want their suffering to end but IL don't know if I could ever kill someone in that situation if they asked me to.
DeleteWhen reading about this case, the first thing I though of was the book, The Gargoyle. It is about a man who was severely burned over his entire body in a car accident and a lot of the book is set in the hospital describing his burn treatment and how he was feeling/what was going through his mind. The book references Dante's Inferno a lot and the main character often talks about hell and death. It's been a while since I've read it but from what I remember, it had a happy ending. A woman comes into the main character's life and helps him through out his treatment process until he is as well as he can be.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting how similar the case of Dax was to this book. They both wanted to die and attempted suicide but eventually found something to keep themselves going and continue with their life and they ended up happier. If I were in that kind of situation, I would also probably want to die, the treatment sounds excrutiating. I don't know if I would be able to go through so much pain. It's an inspiration to know that Dax is happy now and living his life to the fullest after the horrible ordeal that he went through.