David Bowie prepared for his death by giving fans two amazing farewell gifts, the new album Blackstar and the off-Broadway musical Lazarus. David also planned his own peaceful passing at home. Recently, Bowie’s palliative care consultant Dr Mark Taubert penned a thank you letter where he gave some new details about his death.
“Your death at home. Many people I talk to as part of my job think that death predominantly happens in hospitals, in very clinical settings, but I presume you chose home and planned this in some detail. This is one of our aims in palliative care, and your ability to achieve this may mean that others will see it as an option they would like fulfilled. The photos that emerged of you some days after your death, were said to be from the last weeks of your life. I do not know whether this is correct, but I am certain that many of us would like to carry off a sharp suit in the same way that you did in those photos. You looked great, as always, and it seemed in direct defiance of all the scary monsters that the last weeks of life can be associated with.”
Dr Taubert goes on to offer his gratitude for Bowie’s advanced planning regarding his treatment:
“For your advance care planning (i.e. planning health and care decisions prior to things getting worse and before becoming unable to express them), I am certain you will have had a lot of ideas, expectations, prior decisions and stipulations. These may have been set out clearly in writing, near your bed at home, so that everyone who met you was clear on what you wanted, regardless of your ability to communicate. It is an area not just palliative care professionals, but in fact all healthcare workers want to provide and improve, so that it is less likely that any sudden health incidents will automatically result in a blue-light ambulance emergency room admission. Especially when people become unable to speak for themselves.”
You can read Dr Talbert's full thank you letter to David Bowie here.
