Disrupting Death

Disrupting Death with Bridge C-14 (Lauren Clark & Chelsea Peddle)

In this episode, Kathy and Keri chat with Lauren and Chelsea of Bridge C-14. By providing meaningful connections and access to resources, Bridge C-14 is a non-profit organization that works to help improve the lives of individuals and their loved ones throughout all stages of the assisted death process across Canada.
 
Trigger warning: Themes of death, dying and suicide
 
Chelsea Peddle is a well-known and respected death doula and counsellor with a focus on children’s grief and a dedicated member of the Bridge C-14 team. She also serves as an advisor with the organization and as one of the co-facilitators of the Meaning Centered Group Therapy Program. Her recent book, Pancakes with Nana is a heartfelt resource for families looking to bring clarity to death, more notably Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in an approachable way. As young readers confront grandparent loss, this read aloud book will bring a sense of togetherness for grieving families. Pancakes with Nana reflects the journey she went on with her own kids when her mother died using MAiD in 2019. It shares the best information available for children's emotional health and ideas to bring families together, told through the heart-warming story of the bond between a grandmother and her grandchild. For more information about Chelsea and her work, please visit her website: www.chelseapeddle.ca
 
In early 2017, Lauren Clark met Jan Ditchfield, the Founder of Bridge C-14, and joined its founding Board of Directors. Lauren took over the organization after Jan stepped down from day-to-day operations in June 2019. Lauren Clark is also a Social Worker at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH). She holds a permanent position in the Medicine Department at the Civic Campus and has been a member of the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Team at TOH and with the Champlain Regional MAiD Network. Lauren is deeply passionate about providing individuals touched by MAiD with compassionate, peer support throughout their journey with assisted dying.
 
Music for Disrupting Death was created by the ever lovely Sarah McInnis. Sarah is a music therapist, a songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist and End-of-Life Doula. In 2021, Sarah began The Legacy Song Project, writing original songs for folks at the end-of-life, and for folks who have lost loved ones. To learn more about Sarah, visit her website https://sarahmcinnis.com
 
This episode of Disrupting Death was edited by Sadie Mallon.

Death Positive Approach to Children and MAiD: Disrupting Death with Cynthia Clark

Pajama party at a funeral home! Painting a coffin in a schoolyard! In this episode, Cynthia Clark talks about how she “included, consulted and considered” her children in the process of her husband’s medically assisted death and her writing project, “The Many Faces of MAiD.” 
 
Trigger warning: Themes of death, dying and suicide
 
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a review on Apple Podcast! 
 
Cynthia Clark guided her family through the MAiD experience in 2019 when her husband
was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. For nearly a year she was his caregiver &
advocate, while simultaneously guiding her children, then 6 and 8 years old, through his
decision to have a medically assisted death. It was their family’s mission to normalize death,
include the children, and live until it was time to “quit while it was still fun”. Cynthia and her
family shared their journey very openly and publicly and continue to use their experience of
illness, MAiD, and celebrating death with kids, to help others navigating the MAiD
experience with children. Cynthia has a degree in business administration, is a trained coach
and seasoned advocate for many causes that she is passionate about. She is a board
member of The MAiD Family Support Society (formerly Bridge4you), a member of the
planning committee for her local dying with dignity chapter, and an author of an upcoming
support book for loved ones living a MAiD experience. In her free time Cynthia enjoys cross
country skiing, hiking, writing, and watching her kids play sports.
 
Music for Disrupting Death was created by the ever lovely Sarah McInnis. Sarah is a music therapist, a songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist and End-of-Life Doula. In 2021, Sarah began The Legacy Song Project, writing original songs for folks at the end-of-life, and for folks who have lost loved ones. To learn more about Sarah, visit her website https://sarahmcinnis.com
 
This episode of Disrupting Death was edited by Sadie Mallon.

True Choice and Advanced Requests: Disrupting Death with Senator Pamela Wallin

In this episode, the personal IS political, as hosts Kathy and Keri talk about true choice and advanced requests for MAiD with the honourable senator Pamela Wallin. 
 
Please note, this episode was recorded on March 8th, 2023. Since this date, there have been changes to the MAiD legislation that may not be alluded to in this episode by the hosts or Senator Wallin.
Trigger warning: Themes of death, dying and suicide
 
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a review on Apple Podcast! 
 
Pamela Wallin, O.C., S.O.M. is a Canadian senator, journalist, diplomat, and entrepreneur with a career spanning almost 40 years. Pamela is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, and has received many awards for her public service and achievements. Wallin is also a best-selling author of three books, including her autobiography, Since You Asked. She has worked for various media outlets, including CBC radio, the Toronto Star, and CTV, where she hosted Canada AM and became the Ottawa Bureau chief and anchor of the CTV weekend news. In 1992, Wallin became the first Canadian woman to co-anchor the nightly national television newscast Prime Time News. She founded Pamela Wallin Productions in 1995, an independent television company that proved invaluable in her subsequent public service.
 
To learn more about Pamela Wallin, you can visit her website https://pamelawallin.com/
 
Music for Disrupting Death was created by the ever lovely Sarah McInnis. Sarah is a music therapist, a songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist and End-of-Life Doula. In 2021, Sarah began The Legacy Song Project, writing original songs for folks at the end-of-life, and for folks who have lost loved ones. To learn more about Sarah, visit her website https://sarahmcinnis.com
 
This episode of Disrupting Death was edited by Sadie Mallon.

Supporting a Loved one Through MAID: Disrupting Death with Jill Bodak

“It’s a really deep kind of love, to be willing to let someone go, that you’re not ready to see go.” 
On this episode of Disrupting Death, Kathy and Keri speak with Jill Bodak, author of “Loved into Being,” about her experiences grieving, loving and supporting her father following his stroke in 2020, up until his medically assisted death in 2022. 
Trigger warning: Themes of death, dying and suicide
 
Jill Bodak is a Manual Osteopath, Writer, Speaker and Anatomy Educator in Toronto,
Ontario. Her debut non-fiction work, “Loved Into Being” is a brave and honest depiction of life after stroke through the eyes of a daughter. Jill’s writing navigates the hard and soft spots of her own interior and invites the reader into this private landscape that includes joy, terror, grief and unshakeable love.
Jill has a Kinesiology degree from Lakehead University and a Master’s degree in Osteopathic Manual Therapy from The Canadian Academy of Osteopathy. Now, she studies the Emotionally Integrated Voice pedagogy of Fides Krucker and has a ten-year history in the tradition of Zen meditation. She has taught wellness retreats across the country. Since the onset of her father’s stroke in 2020, Jill has been reading, writing, teaching, and helping him heal. She has used the things she learned on his behalf to help countless others with brain injury, cognitive delay, motor deficits and grief. She continues to run a clinical practice that she loves, helping people find a felt sense of their own bodies that lets them move through the world with more ease. 
 
You can buy Jill’s book, “Loved into Being: Reflections on Stroke and Being Indestructible” here: https://www.amazon.ca/Loved-Into-Being-Reflections-Indestructible/dp/B0BPGPKZJW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2SZE51C98WX8U&keywords=loved%20into%20being&qid=1670721158&sprefix=loved%20into%20being%2Caps%2C266&sr=8-1
 
Music for Disrupting Death was created by the ever lovely Sarah McInnis. Sarah is a music therapist, a songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist and End-of-Life Doula. In 2021, Sarah began The Legacy Song Project, writing original songs for folks at the end-of-life, and for folks who have lost loved ones. To learn more about Sarah, visit her website https://sarahmcinnis.com
 
This episode of Disrupting Death was edited by Sadie Mallon.

The History of MAiD and the Power of Narratives: Disrupting Death with Sandra Martin

In this first episode of Disrupting Death, Kathy and Keri-Lyn have a conversation with Sandra Martin about the history of M.A.i.D in Canada, stories of early M.A.i.D advocates, the importance of leading with an open heart, writing your own obituary, the power of narratives and much more. 
Trigger warning: Themes of death, dying and suicide
As a journalist for The Globe and Mail, Sandra Martin was known for her books and arts coverage and her perceptive, deeply researched and vividly written obituaries. Sandra Martin is the author of the critically acclaimed national bestseller, A Good Death: Making the Most of Our Final Choices. Winner of the B.C. National Non-Fiction Award and a finalist for both the Dafoe Prize and the Donner Prize in Public Policy, A Good Death was named one of the best books of 2016 by The Globe and Mail, the CBC and several other media outlets. Margaret Atwood has called A Good Death “a timely and deeply felt account of assisted dying: the histories, the issues” and included it on her list of best books about death and dying. A Good Death was published in a revised paperback edition in 2017 with a new chapter on Bill C-14, Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying law (MAID).
 
For more information about Sandra Martin, check out her website! http://www.sandramartinwrites.com/
 
Links to items mentioned in this episode: 
Sandra’s Martin’s book: A Good Death: 
https://www.amazon.ca/Good-Death-Making-Final-Choices/dp/1443435961
Pierre Berton’s Obituary: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/a-voice-of-canada-is-gone-as-pierre-berton-dies-at-84/article18278395/ 
On Kim Teske’s Death: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/kims-choice-how-one-family-confronts-a-genetic-time-bomb/article19657030/
On John Hofsess:
https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2022/04/death-of-an-author/
“By The Time You Read This I’ll Be Dead” by John Hofsess:
https://torontolife.com/life/john-hofsess-assisted-suicide/
Atul Gwande’s Book: Being Mortal:
https://www.amazon.ca/Being-Mortal-Medicine-What-Matters/dp/0805095152
Music for Disrupting Death was created by the ever lovely Sarah McInnis. Sarah is a music therapist, a songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist and End-of-Life Doula. In 2021, Sarah began The Legacy Song Project, writing original songs for folks at the end-of-life, and for folks who have lost loved ones. To learn more about Sarah, visit her website https://sarahmcinnis.com
This episode of Disrupting Death was edited by Sadie Mallon.

Welcome to Disrupting Death: Conversations about Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada

Disrupting Death: Conversations about Medical
Meet our hosts, Kathy Kortes-Miller and Keri-Lyn Durant! 
A new episode of Disrupting Death will be released every 3rd Friday of every month. Email us at disruptingdeathmaid@gmail.com to subscribe to receive notifications each time a new episode is released. Visit our website for more information about the project: https://www.disruptingdeath.ca/
Music for Disrupting Death was created by the ever lovely Sarah McInnis. Sarah is a music therapist, a songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist and End-of-Life Doula. In 2021, Sarah began The Legacy Song Project, writing original songs for folks at the end-of-life, and for folks who have lost loved ones. To learn more about Sarah, visit her website https://sarahmcinnis.com