Why my colleague and friend is wrong about euthanasia

I doubt if I have ever read such an outpouring of respect, affection and sadness as the reaction prompted by Melanie Reid’s decision to end her Saturday Times column. For 15 years, my colleague (and friend) has charted a life that changed forever when she was thrown from her horse and ended up paralyzed, bound to a wheelchair, from which she wrote every week about extreme disability and how one is best confronted with it.

She did so with great courage, not shying away from the darker sides of her experiences, but also adding wit and warmth. “Raw, unfiltered, unpolished,” as one reader described it, but also “uplifting and inspiring,” as more than 500 comments reflected.

For someone who has