An 84-year-old woman who visited a Canadian hospital was offered MAiD before receiving any other treatment. Posted on X, Amanda Achtman, the founder of the Dying to Meet You Project, posted a clip of Miriam Lancaster, who explains in April last year she got out of bed in excruciating pain.Lancaster's daughter called an ambulance, and Lancaster was sent to Vancouver General Hospital (VGH).At the hospital, instead of treating her, the first thing the doctor offered her was MAiD. .As Lancaster tells the Western Standard, once she arrived at the hospital to be treated, "no tests had been taken.""All I knew was that I was in an emergency ward and was approached by a doctor, which I was expecting.""And the first thing the doctor did was ask about MAiD.""I was taken aback. That was the last thing on my mind, I just wanted to find out why I was in pain — I did not want to die," recalled Lancaster in Achtman's clip..Lancaster's daughter, Jordan Weaver, recalls after Lancaster was first diagnosed, she was offered MAiD right away."My mom was in a lot of pain at that time I was with her," stated Weaver."My recollection is that she had received her diagnosis.""We had been several hours in the emergency. My mom had a fractured pelvis. It fractured spontaneously due to osteoporosis, and it was hard for them to find at first, because it was such a hairline fracture.""Once we knew this, a doctor came in and confirmed, 'You have a hairline fracture in your pelvis.'".For Lancaster's fractured pelvis it was impossible to offer surgery — Weaver states there was nothing to do except wait for the bones to heal, with proper treatment.Lancaster was in the hospital for a month of treatment, with Weaver explaining her mother was in VGH for a week, after which she was transferred to UBC hospital for rehabilitation, recuperating to the point she could be sent home."It had to be supervised by a team of doctors, nurses, and occupational and physical therapists," Weaver stated."She couldn't come home, so it was very expensive to treat, but it didn't require surgery. And as you know from the story, she made a full recovery.".A full recovery indeed, as afterwards, Lancaster was healthy enough to go on multiple trips — not someone suffering from an irremediable and grievous medical condition.However, Weaver worries if she hadn't been at that first consultation when her mom was first in the hospital, things may have gone differently."It was something like, you know, MAiD is an option that would end the pain forever, you know, with a sort of encouraging attitude," Weaver recalled from the interaction with the doctor who offered MAiD. "So if someone was being respectful of healthcare workers, they might almost go along with it."."I think my mom's pretty feisty, but if I hadn't been there, the doctor might have been able to manipulate. It was off the cuff — it was manipulative."The suggestion of MAiD by healthcare workers, like in Lancaster's case, is something would be made illegal by the Alberta government if the new proposed Bill 18 were passed.The bill, amongst other things, would ban healthcare providers from initiating conversations on MAiD.When asked about this provision in the bill, this is what Lancaster and Weaver had to say:."I think that's great. I hand it to the officials in Alberta for presenting this," stated Lancaster."This is a perfectly reasonable safeguard to avoid predatory doctors manipulating, consciously or unconsciously, patients when they're vulnerable.""I respect everyone's views," added Weaver."Maybe it isn't for us, for our family; maybe it is for someone else's."."I don't judge, but I do not think it should be offered to healthy people who have still got a zest for life and who haven't mentioned it themselves. It's completely inappropriate, and it's distressing to the patient."To advise MAiD right away, prior to any other forms of treatment being offered, creates distrust in the healthcare system, and the professionals who work within it."If a doctor is advising MAiD, you think, 'my goodness, this person who is supposed to have my best interest at heart, because this is what I should be doing,'" states Weaver."It leaves you very shaken, and you don't need that kind of uncertainty when you're already unwell.""If people want to request MAiD, it's not our choice, we can respect that, but doctors must not offer it. It's just wrong.".To boot, Lancaster has continued to maintain her health and is traveling, having previously gone to Cuba, Mexico, and Guatemala — not the activities of an ill individual.She is now planning on going to Seattle by the end of the month."When we were in Guatemala, she climbed a volcano," recalled Weaver. "When we were in Mexico, she was taking cooking classes and making her own tacos."."And when we were in Havana, she, is a retired piano teacher, she played with a five piece Jazz Ensemble."All after recovering from the pelvic fracture."Miriam's living life to the full," stated Weaver."My recovery has been amazing, and there was no need for MAiD to even have been suggested," stated Mariam.
