Lifeline Morecambe charity forced to close due to Covid-19 government restrictions

A local charity which provides oxygen therapy for people with a range of conditions is one of many businesses forced to temporarily close its doors as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Inside the Breath for Life centre.Inside the Breath for Life centre.
Inside the Breath for Life centre.

A Breath for Life had been in the process of fundraising for cash to help extend into a newly acquired building next to its current site in Middleton.

But honorary chairman Jane Dean said the charity – which runs hyperbaric oxygen therapy to help improve the lives of severely brain injured children and adults – had to shut at the end of March.

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However, she has questioned recent government policies which have led to charities which help sick people being forced to close.

Jane Dean.Jane Dean.
Jane Dean.

"I had argued in the preceding weeks that breathing oxygen under pressure in a chamber was a safe place to be," she said. "I still hold that view.

"However, once government policy of social isolation particularly for the elderly came into play, we had no option but to close.

"Our charity, A Breath for Life, is just one casualty of a misjudged and miscalculated policy that is set to ruin the lives of more people than the coronavirus would ever kill.

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"How can any government suddenly find £10 billion to cure and treat one singular flu virus, albeit a nasty one, which does indeed endanger the lives of the elderly and the sick and those with underlying health concerns?

A Breath for Life in Middleton.A Breath for Life in Middleton.
A Breath for Life in Middleton.

"And yet, what is happening with all the millions of people who are being denied on going regular medical treatment because our surgeries are closed, our clinics are closed and our hospitals only taking emergency cases?

"Those that do end up in hospital have no visitors and if suffering from a terminal disease will die alone deprived of the comfort a family member can give. This is cruelty 2020 style.

"We are all now being forced to face uncomfortable truths. It has been said that ‘the only certainties in life are death and taxes’. We all know we have to die sometime, we all want that life to be extended for as long as possible, but at what cost?"

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Jane said the current discussion surrounding the use of 'do not resuscitate' (DNR) forms had already been held within her family.

"My elderly mother and husband have had 'do not resuscitate' forms in place for some time and under no circumstances do they want their lives extended by someone jumping on their chest wall or forcing oxygen into their already tired lungs.

"We return to Covid-19 where the average age of death is 78/79 years with many in that age group already suffering from diagnosed pre-existing health problems, who may have, like my husband and mother, decided they have no wish to extend their life further.

"I have been in health care for the last 50 years. At one time health professionals regarded death differently. If someone elderly and infirm was admitted to hospital with pneumonia, which was referred to ‘as the old man's friend’, these patients were nursed with loving care and allowed to die without any of the modern day heroics.

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"Not one doctor would recommend intubation and force an extended life in these circumstances. Patients would die peacefully with their family around them.

"Although times have changed and we are now better able and equipped to extend life is this really the right course?

"As I write this, corona virus management is putting our dedicated NHS workers and resources under extra ordinary pressure. They truly deserve our full support.

"At A Breath for Life we had many children and adults dealing on a daily basis with chronic neurological problems. Breathing oxygen under pressure allowed them to live the life they choose, to enjoy life and to feel motivated to engage with others.

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"What of our patients and the many others now cast aside as the £10 billion has been amazingly found to eliminate and treat one virus.

"It is time for us all to wake up and remember death is a normal consequence of life. Our charity, like many others, needs to reopen and re-open soon to help and support those who are really in need."