X-Message-Number: 18306
From: 
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002 11:39:16 EST
Subject: Disabled, Old

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Jan Coetzee (#18300) writes about his personal tragic family situation and 
the problems of the elderly and disabled in reference to cryonics, especially 
affordability.

First, one can only wonder at the strength and courage of those who face 
unusual illness or debility or deformity or injury in themselves or in the 
family, over long periods of time. I suppose evolution has eliminated most of 
those who totally lack such strength, and also most of those who can't bear 
to see the suffering all around us, but I don't think I could endure what 
many others have endured.

But we are not restricted to wonder and empathy. We can usually do something 
about it--not enough in most cases, not much in many cases, but something. 
Doing something may at least help a little, and with a bit of luck may 
combine with other efforts to help a lot.

Problems of old people are not usually in the same class as those of the 
disabled. We read that large numbers of old people are relatively 
comfortable. What they often lack are life insurance and liquid assets. But 
CI will make every effort to help with some funding arrangement, even in some 
cases using real estate or other assets in the member's estate, not requiring 
cash on the line. Actually, most cryonics patients died old, or relatively 
old, and not a few of them were death-bed cases or nearly so. 

Those destitute and disabled represent the hardest cases, and usually we have 
no present solution to that problem. But in future years we may be able to 
offer alternative procedures, sub-optimal but not hopeless, that are much 
cheaper even than CI's current suspension fee. 

Also, in future years it may become legally possible to cryopreserve people 
before natural death, saving large amounts of money that otherwise would be 
needed for their care, and making it feasible for government or health 
insurance to pay for it. 

All these considerations, and many others--especially the improvement of 
facilities that will be available for you--make it important for prospective 
members not to delay, and for existing members to be involved and helpful. 
Our growth is for many people literally a matter of life and death. The life 
you save may be your own.

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society
www.cryonics.org

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