end-of-life


EMERGENCY service workers are well known for their macabre sense of humour; for having a giggle with the gore.  It is, as they will attest, the only way they can cope with the scenes that daily confront them.  The dead and dying, the mortally mangled, bodies broken almost beyond repair. Situations that have to be dealt with humanely, immediately and without flinching. No turning away, no averting the eyes but stepping bravely into the chaos and mayhem ahead. Scenarios of such awfulness that their full horror is rarely revealed to the public at large. It is an immersive experience no… Continue reading
THE elderly man flicked through the pages of the newspaper. Back and forth. Flick, flick. Stopping occasionally to re-read an item, perhaps check a headline, looking for meaning, for answers. Finding none, only confusion. What first appeared as imperatives could also be seen merely as advice, open to interpretation. An… Continue reading