The wound left by the PEG has been healing really well. It will leave a trace and a reminder of it on his stomach, but it will fade away. Together with the memories of constant pre-digested drip feeding, eliminating the very sensation of hunger and thirst, shrinking the stomach and eliminating all pleasures associated with food.

Yesterday, a father who attempted to murder his four children was jailed for eight years. According to the Irish Independent,

The judge said among the aggravating factors was the “narcissistic element” of the offences where the man had shown a “complete lack of respect for the children’s autonomy”, believing they would be better off dead.

A nurse in an Irish hospital, when we were standing beside Pádraig, had asked how the accident had happened and then said that it might have been better had he died. Knowing, had she thought about it, that Pádraig could hear her and that we had been fighting together for his life for more than two years.

Compare.