Article by Phoenix writer Amir Jeudy ’22
On Monday, February 7th, the members of the Senior student division were given a presentation on Death and Dying from Mrs. Meaghan Curtin Ledetsch ‘04, a nurse practitioner deeply engrossed in the medical field.
She outlined and discussed her experiences with these issues and gave the Seniors case studies for them to examine.
Over the past month, the Seniors have been covering the topics of death and end of life care in their Christian Existence classes.
They’ve discussed the New York State Healthcare Proxy and its origin, which stemmed from the legal case of Brother Joseph Fox, the namesake for the Latin School. In the 80s, the Marianist community fought for the ability for Brother Joseph Fox to die a natural death after medical complications had placed him in a terminal state. This case eventually gave way to the Healthcare Proxy which allows patients to clearly appoint a proxy to make their medical decisions if they ever enter a state where they’re unable to.
Students have also deeply examined the ethical implications of assisted suicide, its emergence into the medical world, as well as the Catholic Church’s stance and how that influences others’ perspectives.
Senior Daniel Erben, when reflecting on the presentation, said “ Her stories were extremely insightful and taught me how to look at the Death and Dying material from a new perspective.”
Overall, the presentation served as a great review and learning experience for everything the Seniors have covered thus far.
