When mainstream news outlets reported that national treasure and footballing legend Sir Bobby Charlton died after a fall, no one batted an eyelid. He was old (86), he was in a care home (The Willows in Knutsford), he had dementia: no surprises that he’d left this mortal coil.
I wasn’t especially interested. I remember him being a bit of a hero back in the 60s and 70s, when he played for Manchester United and helped England win the 1966 World Cup Like but I hadn’t heard much about him in recent years. So like most people, I glanced at the headline and thought nothing of it.
But then, when the cause of death was revealed yesterday, following an inquest at Cheshire Coroners Court, something caught my eye.
He’d died after a fall, the article claimed. I guessed it must have been a bad fall, from a great height maybe. I started to read the article… He’d fallen as he tried to get up from his armchair, it said. He’d lost his balance and keeled over, banging his head on a window sill “and maybe a radiator.” Sounded unpleasant. Poor chap.
Care home staff said there were no visible injuries but later noticed a bump on his back. An ambulance was called and he was taken to a local hospital to be checked over. He was then transferred to Macclesfield General Hospital for a CT scan and x-rays. It was discovered that his ribs were fractured. The doctors predicted that this injury would probably cause pneumonia.
So what happened next? What happened after the medics discovered Sir Bobby was just fine apart from a couple of broken ribs? I’ll tell you what happened. Sir Bobby, probably scoring quite high on the frailty scale (mainly due to his age) was put on an end of life ‘care’ pathway. It was agreed by doctors, according to the news reports. Didn’t Sir Bobby or his family get a say in this? No mention of that.
I couldn’t believe that I was reading this in a mainstream newspaper! For the last two and a half years, I’ve been trying to get my investigation into the sinister world of end of life practices in hospitals and care homes published by a national newspaper, but had no success. Editors tacitly accepted that this unlawful hastening of death and ending of life happens, but none of them seemed too bothered about it. Despite the fact that ending another person’s life is illegal (and punishable by up to life in prison), they’d made up their minds that euthanasia is OK if the person being euthanised is old, frail or terminally ill. And if they believed it to be morally acceptable, then it’s just fine. Nothing to see here. Not a story worthy of publication.
That’s why I was so surprised to suddenly see this casual mention of Bobby being put on an EOL pathway. There it was, in black and white, mainstream news outlets saying loud and clear that this elderly man, this famous elderly man, was euthanised. We all know what that involves. The Liverpool Care Pathway (abolished in 2014 but surreptitiously reintroduced in 2020 as NG163, renamed in 2021 as NG191) and a plan to put the patient out of their misery. Even if they’re nowhere near the end of their life and even if they’re not miserable. These death pathways involve starvation, dehydration, the withdrawal of necessary medications and the concomitant administration of a benzodiazepine and an opioid given by injection or via a syringe driver… The killer combination – a recipe for death.
So casually mentioned in the reports I read. This is new… these pathways don’t make the news these days… the killing and culling of the elderly, ramped up big-time during the faux pandemic under NICE guideline NG163, is all very hush-hush, so much so that I’ve wondered many times whether there are D notices in place. (This week, I pitched my report to 96 mainstream editors, journalists and newsdesks: so far, I’ve received one reply but no interest.) With the Assisted Dying bill constantly under review, it’s likely at some point in the near future to be passed. Helping someone on their way will be acceptable. Is this casual mention in Sir Bobby’s story the first step in normalising euthanasia?
The coroner at the inquest concluded that the causes of Sir Bobby’s death were trauma to the lungs, a fall and dementia.
Sir Bobby died AFTER a fall, not FROM a fall. Broken ribs can’t kill you. (Mortality rates DO increase in older people after having this type of fracture but they aren’t the actual cause of death. See the article below.) He didn’t have pneumonia, despite the doctor’s forecast. Dementia is not a direct cause of death. (See article below.) The most likely cause of death is the killer cocktail of drugs (used in some US states in executions but used in the UK on EOL pathways) by medics who seemingly couldn’t care less about him, national treasure or not.
Here’s one mainstream report on Sir Bobby Charlton’s untimely death:
https://www.gbnews.com/sport/sir-bobby-charlton-cause-of-death-manchester-united
Here’s an article about how to treat broken ribs. Oddly, there’s no mention of treating a patient by putting them on an EOL pathway. https://www.aliem.com/rib-fractures-in-older-adults-whats-the-big-deal/
“Dementia is not a disease. It’s a decline in the ability to reason, communicate, remember, and function in life. While dementia itself may not cause death, the result of progressive brain disorders eventually cause death.”
https://www.healthline.com/health/dementia/can-you-die-from-dementia
Jacqui Deevoy has been a full time freelance journalist for more than three decades. Over the last few years, she’s lost faith in the MSM and now prefers to work for news outlets that deal in truth, not lies.
In 2021, she launched a personal investigation into euthanasia in the NHS and this resulted in her producing the shocking documentary ‘A Good Death?’ She is currently crowdfunding for a second film – ‘Playing God’ – due for release soon.
She produces and presents the UNN Friday night show – a sometimes serious but often irreverent chat-fest with an array of fascinating guests talking on a wide range of subjects. She’s also one of UNN’s lead reporters.
Follow Jacqui on Twitter @JacquiDeevoy1
