The case of "Martin"

Discuss the case of “Martin” (p. 163, 3a). What should the family do? What factors and values influenced your decision?

In this case, Martin is in a situation that he must rely on the feeding tube and a respirator to keep his living. Maybe this kind of situation doesn't cause a vital danger to Martin, but Martin might fall in unconscious forever and not wake up anymore, suggested by the doctor. It is really a difficult situation to Martin's family. Because they are in a dilemma that they must make a decision whether to release their financial burden on the expensive medical expense by giving up the curing to Martin or to look for funding to keep their family member alive. In my opinion, Martin's family must do anything they can to keep Martin alive. Since there are many government agencies and charities that can help family who has a heavily ill family member like Martin. I think they should call for help from these institutions first. If they can not get enough help from these agencies, they can call for help from some public media, like TV stations, talk show programs, newspapers. Making this story to a public issue and gain more attention from the public and government. Then people will realize this issue and do something to help Martin's family to deal with their difficulty. In Taiwan, we can see some stories like this from the news channel everyday, and people will aid these poor people via indicating account. I think Martin's family can get more help from these actions and release their financial burden more easily. Since I am a humanist, I think life is given by God, and also only God can take it from people. We should do anything to take care these ill people and do everything we can to help them. Because life is precious and priceless, no one can decide who should live or die, unless they commit a unforgivable criminal. There is no doubt that Martin still have chance to wake up someday in the future. All Martin's family can do and shold do is to wait for the miracle, and pray to God for Martin's health.