It is with gratitude to Professor Wilkinson that I assemble these thoughts to the beautiful and haunting melodies of Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14. In the practice of paediatric palliative care, the wavering tension between the Maiden’s Cry and Death’s Response, that dance between hope and despair, unfolds daily in similarly beautiful and haunting ways. Schubert’s interpretation of the dialogue offers welcome connection across time and space.
In that context, Wilkinson takes on the challenging question of what it means for children to die well or to die poorly. Through examples of deaths (including Schubert’s) that went poorly, he explores the many ways that death and dying can be bad. From the loss of valuable future life to the presence of pain and suffering, to the manner of dying being contrary to an individual’s wishes, to the negative impacts of a bad death on family members, caregivers and clinicians, each element…