In Coma, Ariel Sharon Is Moved Home

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Ariel Sharon, who had a major stroke while prime minister of Israel nearly five years ago and has since been in a coma in a hospital room, was moved on Friday to his ranch in the Negev Desert, hospital officials told Israel Radio.

A former close aide, Raanan Gissen, said in an interview that Mr. Sharon’s sons had been in discussion with Sheba Medical Center outside Tel Aviv about the move. An elevator and other equipment had been installed at the family ranch to accommodate his arrival and long-term care.

Hospital officials said Mr. Sharon would at first spend several days at a time at home and then return to Sheba Medical Center to be to monitored. Only after several successful trials at the ranch would he stay there permanently.

Mr. Sharon, 82, breathes on his own but is fed intravenously, Mr. Gissen said. Visits to his sterile hospital room had been tightly limited because of a fear of infection. The cost of keeping Mr. Sharon in the hospital, which is borne by the taxpayer, has been high and some commentators urged that he be moved to a long-term care facility or home."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/world/middleeast/13sharon.html?src=mv

[bemildred]

1. Ariel Sharon's trip home triggers memories of firm hand

Ariel Sharon always said he wanted to go home to his Sycamore Ranch, and spend his time tending his sheep and cows.

He said it throughout his two decades of dogged fighting for rehabilitation after the disastrous Lebanon War in 1982. He said it after he unexpectedly became the leader of the opposition in 1999. And he said it throughout his five years as prime minister, from 2001 to 2006.

He never exactly meant it. What he really wanted was to stay in politics, preferably at the top of politics, forever.

He kept recounting the remarkable longevity of his mother's family. He never groomed a successor. He projected an affable disdain for most of the younger politicians who vied for his job (and an unaffable contempt for Benjamin Netanyahu, who now has it).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11745636

[azurnoir]

2. keeping someone alive in a vegetative state for 5 years seems

almost obscene, no matter who it is. One wonders if his sons will remain so hopeful once the home is turned into a "hospice"

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. He's dead Bibi

I am surprised it has gone on this long.

[azurnoir]

4. It is Sharon's sons not Netanyahu that wish him to be kept alive

I do not think Bibi cares much one way or the other, for my part I would never have done what is IMO such a disservice to either of my parents

[LeftishBrit]

8. Maybe he asked for this - but it does seem horrible.

I would never want it done to me; and my mother has made it very clear (official documents) that she would never want it done to her. It's practically Terri Schiavo territory.

[LeftishBrit]

11. Just occurred to me that my post-heading could be misunderstood in an unfortunate way

I meant 'asked for this' literally, as in 'told his family when healthy that he wanted to be kept alive under any circumstances'.

My family members have indicated quite different wishes for themselves.

[azurnoir]

12. well I understood what you meant and never considered it in a

"karmic" sort of way, but I will admit I have wondered what his will says :spank:
both my parents but my father in particular was quite exacting about his wishes, he passed away last May and was very clear about what he wanted and did not want

[Violet_Crumble]

5. I hope for his sake he's got no awareness at all and that his brain is truly mush by now...

Prolonging life like that is wrong, and if that family wasn't filthy rich, he would have been allowed to die within the first 24hrs of having that massive stroke....

:hi:

[orion007]

6. Israeli govt. allots 1.6 million a year for Sharon's medical care

and 1.5 million for family to use for renovations to their home for his care.

Seems that the family has been putting off taking him home, asked to do so a few years ago.


http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000599994&fid=1725

[sabbat hunter]

9. That is

1.6 million NIS not dollars. which is ~$435,000 still a lot but not outlandish IMHO,

[orion007]

14. Thanks for correcting those numbers,

I've wondered if Sharon's son Omri beleived that keeping his father somewhat alive would have helped him during his legal battle with corruption charges.
He was sentenced to 7 months in jail though.
If Sharon needs a ventilator to be kept alive they should let him go (IMO) to the big bulldozers in the sky, if not, then good for him, being able to go home.

[bemildred]

7. If that family was paying for it, he would have been allowed to die within the first 24hrs ...

Though I have wondered from time to time if there was some other reason he was being kept "alive".

[oberliner]

10. s/d

[Rhiannon12866]

13. At the time, there was speculation about how his death could influence upcoming elections...

But, at this point, it's a moot point. I'm pretty amazed at this news. I posted the LBN thread about his coma, and that seems like a lifetime ago. I do remember reading, though, that the decisions about his care were being made by his sons...

[bemildred]

15. Yes, that's what I meant.

Who can forget all the "mourning" when Reagan went to the big ranch in the sky?

[Rhiannon12866]

16. You make an excellent point...

From what we've witnessed since, like at the Republican debates, that eulogizing is still going on. So you are absolutely right... If Sharon did actually pass on, the same thing might very well happen. I hadn't thought of the similarity before, but it is eerily similar. Sharon is also in kind of a netherworld, still with us, but really not. But if he were to pass away, that would make him relevant and newsworthy again, and the tendency would be, as with Reagan, to remember him kindly and to bring him and his policies back into the discussion...

[oberliner]

17. One wonders what the Right thinks of him these days

He did, after all, remove all the Gaza settlements unilaterally.