Roger Foley - Trapped in a hospital for 9 years and told that death is his way out.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Roger Foley, London Health Sciences Centre

Yesterday I published the article: Roger Foley has served more than 9 years in hospital care. He deserves to be sent home with self directed care. (Link).

James Reinl wrote an article that was published in the Daily Mail on June 8, 2025 titled: I've been trapped in a hospital for NINE YEARS and staff tell me the way out is killing myself. Reinl explains Roger Foley's dilemma:

A disabled Canadian man has told the Daily Mail about his living hell of nine years in a hospital where he says caregivers badger him to end his life by lethal injection.

Roger Foley is stuck in a room in the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) in London, Ontario, where staff repeatedly drop hints about euthanasia, he says.

He suffers from spinocerebellar ataxia, an incurable brain disease that makes it difficult to move. He needs to be lifted so he can eat, drink, and take medication.

Last month the hospital switched out the amber lights in his room for bright bulbs that leave Foley, who is light sensitive, in pain and unable to be lifted for meals, he says.

The 49-year-old ate his last mouthful of food on May 6 and has since received sustenance through a drip.

Now, his strained veins are collapsing, and he is at risk of a heart attack or other health crisis, he adds.

Last week, I visited Roger Foley at the hospital. During the visit we discussed that he has not received any food since May 6, which was more than a month. Roger is receiving fluids with some sustenance through an IV tube, but that does not provide the necessary nutrition to sustain him.

Yesterday I wrote that Roger, who I have been communicating with for several years, does not want to live in the hospital. Roger has served his time and deserves to be sent home. The catch is that based on his disability he needs significant care.

Roger proposed, from the beginning, that he be sent home with self-directed care, meaning that Roger would hire the care team to provide for his needs. Self-directed care is a program that exists in Ontario, but Roger has been denied access to the program.

Reinl reports Roger as stating:

His state-funded at-home caregivers were negligent, dragging him across floors and banging him into walls, he says.

He ended up in hospital with food poisoning in February 2016 and he has been there ever since.

Foley says he will only go home once he can choose his own caregivers, in what is called 'self-directed' care — a rarity in the province's tax-funded healthcare system.

Reinl explains the stand-off that Foley has with the London Health Sciences Centre:

Last month, hospital bosses took away the soft amber lighting Foley needs in favor of the regular blue lights that hurt his disease-ravaged eyes, he says.

As a result, he cannot be lifted to eat and has since been fed through a drip, he says.

That raises the risks of heart attacks, infections and blood clots, he says.

'They know that my body can only last so long without access to food, medicine, and water, and they know that my eyes can't tolerate the light,' he said.

'They would be more than happy if I died of a heart attack.

Foley wants to leave the hospital and go home, Reinl writes:

He says he yearns to get back to his one-bedroom apartment on Highbury, where he can compose music and carry out voluntary work for disability rights charities.

Foley's home has an accessible shower and gym. If he is granted self-directed care, he could also see his mom, two brothers, and niece more often, he says.

'That's my light at the end of the tunnel,' he says.

An online fundraiser for his legal battle has so far raised nearly $3,000.

As I stated in my article yesterday when you do the math, self-directed care is the least expensive and preferable option for care.

The hospital is an incredibly expensive place to care for Roger and he does not want to be there. "Care agencies" bill the government for the cost of the care and the costs associated with the agency.

Self-directed care, whereby Roger would hire his own care team, is the least expensive and the preferable option since most of the cost is limited to the cost of the care team.

It is time to release Roger from the confinement of the hospital room and send him home with self-directed care. Roger has already created a proposed model of care that outlines the requirements of his team and the cost associated with his care.

Roger deserves to be sent home and be approved for self-directed care.