Springs cancer patient asks for compassion in discussion of Brittany Maynard’s death

The Colorado Springs woman who begged Brittany Maynard not to take her life is asking for compassion.

Maynard made headlines with her decision to end her life on Nov. 1 under Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act. The 29-year-old was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in January. This weekend, she followed through on her plans and took medication to end her life.

“I was just heavy-hearted and very sad,” said Kara Tippetts. The 38-year-old mother of four has cancer. “It’s found new corners. It’s in my lymph system, behind my heart and in my pelvis. It’s also in my bones, and cancer has also been found in my brain. So we’re fighting very hard, but cancer is very aggressive.”

Last month, Tippets wrote a letter to Maynard, asking her to reconsider her decision.

“I just asked her to let the people who love her walk with her in her last days,” Tippets said. “In our family, we very much love God and feel and understand that He is the author of our breaths, and that He’s going to perfectly plan my last breath.”

Tippets disagrees with assisted suicide legislation.

“We have to honestly decide as a culture, do we want assisted suicide? Or do we want to walk with the broken to the last breath as is ordained by God?” she said.

But she says she doesn’t believe in condemnation or unkindness. She wants to be loving and kind toward Maynard’s family. After she learned of Maynard’s passing, she wrote a new post on her blog, Mundane Faithfulness. In it, she writes about Jesus’ message of mercy and the story of the good Samaritan.

“Instead of marching onto social media and ranting and being unkind, I ask the people who follow my story to find a place to extend your love to one another,” she said. “I asked my readers to consider, ‘Who’s in your life that’s suffering? Who’s struggling? Who needs their wounds bound up? Who needs your specific love?”

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*photos in video courtesy of Jen Lints Photography.