If you don't have an Enduring Power of Attorney - get one!

As some of you may know, my friend John Donovan, who lives downstairs in the Unit Block in which I live, is in intensive care after an operation to remove a disk in his neck. He is now a quadriplegic and requires a ventilator to breathe.

He can not:
a. FEED HIMSELF - he has only partial movement in one arm - he has lost all sensation, feeling and control over the rest of his body
b. HE CAN NOT TOILET HIMSELF (Can you imagine how that must make him feel?)
c. HE CAN NOT WALK (obviously) although he was a body builder in his youth
d. HE CAN NOT TALK or EXPRESS HIS FRUSTRATION at BEING TRAPPED WITHIN A BODY HE HAS NO CONTROL OVER.

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A WILL, AN ENDURING POWER OF ATTORNEY, AN ADVANCED HEALTH DIRECTIVE - BLOODY WELL GET THEM DONE! It will spare your loved ones a whole world of hurt, frustration and legal wrangles.

ADVANCED HEALTH DIRECTIVES:
An Advance Health Directive is a formal way of giving instructions for your future health care, and comes into effect only if your are unable to make your own decisions.

http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/justice-services/guardianship/making-health-care-decisions/advance-health-directives