USA: 91 Year-old Sharlotte Hydorn who has been selling suicide kits out of her home, regrets the death of a young man who used one of her products to kill himself

Record ID: 677891

  • Title: USA: 91 Year-old Sharlotte Hydorn who has been selling suicide kits out of her home, regrets the death of a young man who used one of her products to kill himself
  • Date: 28th May 2011
  • Summary: SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 27, 2011) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHARLOTTE HYDORN, SAYING "There's nothing I can do. I cannot resurrect this, I cannot turn time back. I wish I could. But I would hope to correct it in the future. I would appreciate it if people in the community would look forward to me and say 'I will help you' rather than look b
  • Embargoed: 12th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAEROZDAOK3HOKIOFYUFCZ9QOSB
  • Story Text: A 91-year-old woman who is selling do-it-yourself asphyxiation kits for 60 dollars apiece in a mail-order business home is responding to criticism about her product.
    Sharlotte Hydorn made headlines after one of her customers from Oregon, Nicholas Klonoski, 29, described by his family as suffering from depression but otherwise healthy, used one of her kits to take his own life in December.
    Hydorn says she wishes that she had not sold the young man the kit and is looking for ways in the future to keep her product away from people who are not terminally ill.
    and says she is looking for ways.
    "There's nothing I can do. I cannot resurrect this, I cannot turn time back," says Hydorn. "I wish I could. But I would hope to correct it in the future. I would appreciate it if people in the community would look forward to me and say 'I will help you' rather than look back and say 'why did you do this awful thing.'"
    Hydorn's kit consists of a plastic hood that closes around the neck, and tubing that connects the hood to a tank of helium or other inert gas that users must supply for themselves.
    Hydorn says her so-called "exit kits" are intended to help terminally ill people end their lives with dignity in their own homes, though she has acknowledged she performs no background checks and asks no questions of individuals who order the apparatus.
    Notoriety surrounding Klonoski's suicide sparked a move among state legislators to outlaw sales of such devices in Oregon, one of only two states -- the other is Washington -- with laws on the books legalizing physician-assisted suicide for people with incurable, fatal illnesses.
    Hydorn sells the kits under the brand name GLADD, which stands for Glorious Life and Dignified Death. A retired science teacher who collects a pension and income from several rental properties, Hydorn said she became interested in helping the terminally ill after losing her husband to colon cancer in 1977.
    Hydorn had been quietly selling the kit for about 20 years and said she is uncomfortable with the recent burst of publicity. Sales have risen sharply as a result of the media attention stemming from Klonoski's death and reaction to it in the Oregon Legislature. Buth with the uptick in sales has come a wave of ill will from people opposed to her endeavors. "I have been told by people, you know, what do you think ... have you ever considered that you're going to go to hell if you do this. And I have said to them, and it's been reported, I've seen or heard myself saying it on the news, that if you think I'm going to go to hell, then you can go hell!"
    Hydorn said she adapted her "exit kit" from designs she first saw at a Hemlock Society meeting in the 1990s and said she will use one herself if it's called for.
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