Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
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| Erwin Bach and Tina Turner |
In her memoir, Tina Turner: My Love Story, Turner explains that in December 2016 she signed up with the Swiss assisted suicide group Exit.
Crowrivermedia.com reported on May 25 that:
Crowrivermedia.com reported on May 25 that:
The ‘Simply the Best’ icon, who passed away aged 83 on Wednesday (24.05.23) from natural causes at her home in Küsnach near Zurich, Switzerland, after years of health woes, thought about euthanasia before her music producer husband Erwin Bach, 67, donated his kidney to her.Crowrivermedia continued:
She said in her memoir ‘Tina Turner: My Love Story’: “By December 2016, my kidneys were at a new low of 20 per cent and plunging rapidly.Tina Turner's husband, Erwin Bach, told her that he didn't want to lose her, he didn't want her to die.
“And I faced two choices: either regular dialysis or a kidney transplant.
“It wasn’t my idea of life. But the toxins in my body had started taking over. I couldn’t eat. I was surviving, but not living.
“I began to think about death. If my kidneys were going, and it was time for me to die, I could accept that. It was OK. When it’s time, it’s really time.
“I didn’t mind the thought of dying, but I was concerned about how I would go.”
It was at that point her husband offered her a kidney, with the donation taking place in 2017.
Tina added: “He said he didn’t want another woman, or another life; we were happy and he’d do anything to keep us together.
“Then he shocked me. He said that he wanted to give me one of his kidneys. I was overwhelmed by the enormity of his offer.Tina Turner's story is similar to many other stories.
“But because I love him, my first response was to try to talk him out of taking such a serious and irreversible step.”
“While I was understandably anxious about the transplant, I was far more concerned about him. After about an hour, it was my turn.
“When I awoke, I was so groggy that everything… the best moment was when Erwin came rolling into my room in his wheelchair.”
Many people ask for assisted suicide because they don't want to be a burden on others, or they are afraid of future suffering. When Bach told Turner that he loved her and he wanted to her to live, and then offered her one of his kidneys, he affirmed his love for her.
His love gave her a reason to live.
This is a perfect example of a person whom, if given the life-affirming choices of life over death, will always choose life. Who says 'what's love got to do with it?' Or that 'Love is a second hand emotion', or 'a sweet old fashioned notion', as Tina once sang in her 1986 hit song from her album 'Private Dancer.' In fact love has everything to do with it! It has to do with the unabashed and eternal agape love of God for we, His children, who are children of the Light. And as such, being born of the Light, we are thus born to bear witness to the Light, and to enter back into the Light from whence we came, when it is our time of final reckoning, as our Sister Tina chose to do. Bravo, Sister Tina! God bless you and keep you! Amen. Peter Stuart. Ottawa, ON, Canada.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day, I trust Tina Turner felt that her husband, Erwin Back, lived out TRUE love toward his wife. TRUE love is more than a “second hand emotion” or “a sweet old fashion notion.” TRUE love in marriage has a lot to do with the husband serving selflessly, lovingly, and sacrificially for the sake of his bride. Thank you, Mr. Back, for loving and honoring your vows to your wife through sickness and in health until her natural death.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully said, Josephine.
DeleteGreat testimony from of the great performers of our time ,
ReplyDeleteI can understand and sympathize with so many that suffer so much and yet I am glad
her husband, helped her to die a natural death
Cecily
Thank you Josephine for reminding us that True love is more than a second hand emotion or a sweet old fashion notion.
ReplyDeleteHaw do we help people without the financial means to obtain this life affirming care? How do we let them know that choosing life is a better outcome? I feel assisted suicide is wrong for so many reasons, but how do we gather to help those who feel that is their only way out of pain and/or an abandoned life? Why do governments and communities feel death is Moore expedient than care and compassion?
ReplyDelete"Whats LOVE got to do with it"....EVERYTHING !:) :)
ReplyDeleteFor better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, til death do we part. I think is the wedding verse. A remarkable love and commitment, devotion and caring for your spouse.
ReplyDeleteLife extended to share with one another.
Life is God’s to give and His to take. when our last day takes us home to be with Our Heavenly Father. Birth to natural death. Respect life and honour the person.
Tina you endured a horrific and abusive
Marriage and lived to grow an adoring fan base globally. Loved your music and courage. God rest your soul.
Sacrificial love. True love.
ReplyDeleteI was a caregiver for my wife for 7-8 years through her Multiple Myeloma journey. Both of us Christians. She never once considered MAID, even though her quality of life decreased before my eyes. She believed, and trusted, that God had her in the palm of His hand. She fell at home, resulting in a hospital stay that, unlike several prior stays due to health complications, proved to be her last. She had made me promise years before that I would not ask for "extraordinary measures" to be taken if she became precipitously ill (i.e.: chest compressions, intubation, etc.). I agreed and kept that promise to her in her last moments. it was hard to do, but I was determined to keep the promise to let her go when her time came.
ReplyDeleteEuthanasia is an act of hopelessness. In Tina's case, it came from ignorance.
ReplyDeleteTina Turner was rich and famous, and deservedly so. But she was as ignorant of dialysis as the rest of the world. It should be obsolete by now. I published how to prevent it over twenty years ago (see ref. #1 in https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k4303/rr). If anybody in her entourage had known, she'd still be alive. But healthcare and the media have kept the truth hidden; dialysis is a $200B/year racket.
For questions, please contact GenoMed.com
Anonymous asked about how we can care for people who lack the financial means. We need to create a caring culture. It shouldn't require money to receive the care that we need.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Tina Turner, she responded to her husband telling her that he loved her and he wanted her to remain alive with him.