Liam Downing, a 30-year-old DJ from Leeds, England who had been suffering from terminal leukemia for last 2 years, tested positive for COVID-19, a few days ago. He asked his doctors to stop giving him any medical treatment and instead save someone else’s life.
According to reports, Downing got to know about his coronavirus infection on 16th March. He had already been told by the doctors that there’s not much they can do for his leukemia.
Given his vulnerability to other diseases due to cancer, he decided to opt out of any medical treatment for COVID-19 and passed away on 27th March. He wanted those resources to be used for someone else’s treatment.
He told his doctors:
Save someone else.
His sister spoke to The Times UK about his decision. She said:
Liam had spoke with the specialist about what his options were, by the end of the conversation Liam had made the brave decision not to have any more medication and to just be made as comfortable and given end of life care instead.
In a Facebook post, she also recalled how the entire family celebrated his 30th birthday, a few days ago. She wrote:
I’m so unbelievably proud of you Liam. You fought so long and hard but now’s your time to relax. You’re now out of pain.
At a time when medical professionals around the world are struggling for resources to treat COVID-19 patients, sacrifices of people like Downing might help us fight the pandemic.