Christina Symanski, Paralyzed Artist, Starved Herself To Death (VIDEO)

There's an old saying that artists have to suffer, but after six years of paralysis, Christina Symanski decided she had suffered enough.

Symanski, 31, broke her neck diving into a shallow swimming pool in June, 2005.

An artist and teacher in East Brunswick, N.J., Symanski was rescued by her boyfriend of six months, professional musician Jimmy Morganti, who, at the time of the accident, was planning to move in with her.

The accident left Symanski a quadriplegic. She continued to do her art, but last fall, she made a decision to starve herself to death.

"I have come to a point in my own life where I’m struggling with the question, ‘Is this life worth living for ME, or am I just prolonging my own suffering?’" is how she explained it on her blog, Life Paralyzed.

Once she decided to end her life, Symanski researched right-to-die laws, and even considered moving to Oregon which allows some physician-assisted suicide, according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

She also began communicating with Jeanne Kerwin, the coordinator for Ethics and Palliative Care Services at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, who gave her tips about palliative care and how she could end her suffering.

Some of Kerwin's suggestions included having two psychological evaluations as well as consultations with lawyers and physicians.

"She did everything she could so that the responsibility for whatever happened was hers alone," Kerwin told the Star-Ledger.

But not everyone agreed with Symanski's decision, especially her aunt, Mary Ellen Symanski, the head of the nursing department at Alvernia University in Reading, Pa.

"I was not thrilled with the information she was receiving," said Symanski who privately tried to convince her niece not to end her life.

But once Symanski decided to die by diet, things moved quickly and she passed away on December 1.

Among her last wishes was to have her cremated ashes mixed with fireworks and then skyrocketed over the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border this Independence Day.

"I don’t know whether I can do that legally," said her mother, Louise Ruoff. "But I’ll try."

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Comments

[Brandic Robertson]

09:22 PM on 02/11/2013

Congratulations Christina Symanski!

The world needs more people like you and Ramón Sampedro. Controlling one's death is a right. Assisted suicide should not be considered murder or manslaughter. It is an act of kindness and love.

If you love to enjoy living as a quadriplegic, then go ahead. But don't force other to do it if they don't want to. You wouldn't like it if people forced quadriplegics to die against their will, so you should not force others to live against their will.

Psychiatry is a pseudoscience.

[Dilandau]

08:48 AM on 05/11/2012

As a caregiver, all I can say is that if I were in her shoes I would have done the same thing. It's easy to say, "Oh, if only they'd told her she wasn't a burden," but the truth is she was. It's a hard truth, but when you have to give up your life to make someone else feel whole, there's a burden there. In truth, most disabled have more freedom than their caregivers do, and caregivers are more prone to suicide than their wards. It's a heavy burden, and if she wanted to alleviate it, then that was her choice.
Sure there were other things she could have pursued, but that wasn't her choice. I would have done the same thing, regardless of how supportive everyone seemed.

[Brandic Robertson]

09:23 PM on 02/11/2013

People who advocate living as quadriplegics are like self mutilators.

[Angel Ear]

01:53 PM on 03/13/2012

It's really sad she felt she was a burden to family and friends...did they not assure her she wasn't a burden....if anything she was given a challenge, to bad she felt the need to meet it with a death sentence...when you can feed yourself, and still enjoy art and teach, there is too much to live for rather than give in to death... I don't know what her daily life was life but I know quite a few handicap people, and they are bright spots in a lot of people's lives...

[Rowlandville]

01:18 AM on 02/21/2012

I've been in a wheelchair since I was ten years old. I'm fifty now. It's hard, sometimes ridiculously so. I am not paralyzed, but through muscle weakness have a quadriplegic level disability. (Very little arm strength, little to no leg strength.)

I have a half dozen close friends who are quads. Our lives can blow - as can yours. I don't know this woman's life, but having known quite a few quads, including female, I'm familiar with their challenges. The giving away of one's life because of these is beyond tragic, it's stupid.

I think of all the people I know who walk who contribute nothing to this world. Some struggle to make bills and others have more money than they know what to do with. This girl was an artist with enough insight to research her own death, yet she had nothing to contribute or glean simply because of that chair? That's B.S.

I know quads who go to the Olympics. I know quads who travel the country doing more activities than any able bodied person I know. We water ski, snow ski, are sexual (and take quite a bit of pride in our creativity, thank you very much), love, politic, raise kids. And so her acquiescence to the hardships over the victories is damning not just to her memory but to the lives of quads just starting (most of whom are young and still mapping out how they will cope.)

She killed more than herself.

[Christie Hansen]

01:38 PM on 02/23/2012

For someone who supposedly has done so much with there life as a quad, you are still not qualified to judge her and her actions. She has only killed herself and has done no harm physically to anyone else. Even those who have strive and continue to grow even though paralyzed, that is great for them. God bless them, truly. This is still no reason to say you know what she personally was going through and what decision she bravely made to end her own sorrow in this physical life. Just like some others who choose to live, it was her choice to leave this world. No one sir, not even you can damn her for that, and shame on you for even saying some of the things you have said.

[Rowlandville]

04:46 PM on 02/23/2012

While you are welcomed to your opinion, I have experienced enough exposure to the disabled community to list off for you the stresses the newly disabled encounter. If, as the article expressed, she took her own life because life in a chair was unbearable, then her act was, as I stated, stupid. I make no exception because you find my comment less than compassionate.

Every day, kids and adults end up in wheelchairs. Is Christina Symanski the role model you want them to mirror? If so, let me tell you that nearly every one of those newly disabled look at their new life and want to end it. So, we justify her actions as honest and noble? Hell, no. What she did was take an obviously intelligent and talented life and end it because she couldn't take the heat. Sorry, I won't give that to her, because it gives license to vulnerable people in a briefly desperate situation to surrender everything, their life, to that moment.

[Miltown47]

03:40 AM on 02/24/2012

Why didn't anyone, who is also a quad, talk some sense into her?

I read her blog and watched her YouTube vids. I think she was very isolated and VERY dependent on her mom and sister. I don't think that was good. She should have gotten more exposure to others, especially disabled.

Her Blog is superb, but she was constantly focused on what she COULD NOT do, instead of what she COULD do. She didn't have a strong support network even though she had a lot of talents and gifts.

[Brandic Robertson]

09:25 PM on 02/11/2013

Sense is relative. Some quadriplegics enjoy living in their state of paralysis, while some quadriplegics do not. To be fair, she should have both types of quadriplegics share their experiences with her, and let her decide.

[CSNC]

03:53 PM on 02/20/2012

It is very sad, but it was her choice and I agree that she should have that. Anyone and everyone should be able to chose his or her own method of ending life.

H

[Kimpeach]

02:17 PM on 02/20/2012

I really don't know what to say/think about this issue, but she was beautiful and my heart goes out to her.

[rexruther]

07:36 PM on 02/19/2012

I read her blog and her parents sounded like a complete nightmare. They scolded her in the hospital directly following the accident, making her feel ashamed and embarrassed for being "stupid" (her words). What sort of parents would treat their child like this after a traumatic accident when she really needed love and support. They were more concerned about how the accident inconvenienced their own lives. How selfish. No wonder she felt like a burden to those around her. Very sad she decided to end her life.

[Miltown47]

10:15 PM on 02/19/2012

Had the same reaction rex. I'm very troubled by what happened. Shows how selfish people really can be.

[jparso3]

10:22 AM on 02/19/2012

I have told my family that if I end up paralyzed to just let me die. I live an active life and could not see living in a wheelchair.

[CSNC]

03:53 PM on 02/20/2012

jparso3,

Same here. I will not cling to life just for the heck of it.

H

[nsj3111]

09:43 PM on 02/20/2012

people who use wheelchairs do lead active lives. It's not a matter of simply being a wheelchair user for the rest of one's life. Her level of paralysis is what made life harder on her after the fact. Her parents added to the problem with their attitudes. There are people who are left with similar levels of paralysis and they go on to meet people and marry and have kids. Perception is everything as well as the support of loved ones.

[BowlingForRevenge]

04:18 AM on 02/19/2012

I truly believe where there is a will, there is a way.
My daughter is a quadriplegic and the light of my life.
She's been this way for almost 18 years now. She's 32.

I wonder if Christina knew of Joni Earekson Tada?
While we have no desire to be a part of her ministries
her story is inspiring and she too is an artist.

[noahmarder]

05:40 PM on 02/20/2012

If "where there is a will, there is a way", then "if someone didn't find a way, he didn't have a will", or in other words, blame the victim. Bad things happen to people, and sometimes there is no way to fix what happened. Stupid platitudes just make the situation worse.

[Brianna Graves]

09:14 PM on 02/18/2012

i became quadriplegic in '05 also. this woman had more choices in mobility than I do and still the thought of doing something like this has never crossed my mind. this is basically an article glorifying her suicide and weakness. Yes being para/quadriplegic is hard and something that I wish no one had to endure but you don't just kill yourself because life's hard! Think of the possibilities that could have come from her life and the lives she (would have) touched. And all the comments applauding her "courage" are horrible. you wouldn't applaud the "courage" of an able bodied suicide. I have no doubt of her suffering, having any type of disability comes with some level of suffering but its not bad enough to stoop to this level. IMO she was feeling sorry for herself for 6 years instead coping and moving on with her life. Am sure some of you will say I'm stronger than she was but I know many quadriplegics who would tell you the same thing. Life goes on, get over yourself.

[yougogirl1948]

09:33 PM on 02/18/2012

@Brianna Graves

Fanned and faved. I like your perseverance AND optimism.

[Miltown47]

05:50 PM on 02/19/2012

Hi Brianna. I appreciate your comment. I read everything about this girl on her blog and I am really stunned by the enormity and tragedy of it. I think that a number of things broke against her and she found it terribly difficult to adjust because she lost her job, her boyfriend/fiance, her day to day control of her life instantly...and did not recover any of them in 6 years. I still can't believe that those around her didn't try to open her eyes a little more. People should pay more attention to stories like hers and yours as we could all be in the same situation in the blink of an eye. I would be interested in corresponding with you about it. Tom

[ENieshoff]

07:31 PM on 02/18/2012

I've lived 33 years with a similar injury (SCI) - thereafter I finished college, medical school, married, had children, and have lead a full and satisfying life. It is unfortunately true that some people imagine their grief will be unending, reinforced by inaccurate stereotypes and antiquated thinking. The truth is that life is full of possibilities, whether or not you can move your legs back and forth. To people with disabilities of all kinds, I say don't let preconceptions limit you, whether they come from within or elsewhere.

[Norge]

01:30 AM on 02/18/2012

She needed therapy and not advice on the legal matters of self distruction. Those surounding her seemed to be in the worst of delemas.
I know of artists who paint with their brush in their mouth because of the inability to use their arms.
This artist claimed she was leaving because she did not want to be a burden to her family. I am sorry but that is really a very lame excuse.

Rest in peace though I believe this should not have happened.

[mensakid]

05:01 PM on 02/17/2012

As many posts have indicated, it is a very sad occassion for this young woman to have taken her own life - because none of us can see what the future may have brought her - she had no way of knowing that there was absolutely no hope for a recovery........I personally know a couple of people who are alive and well today, in denial of the morbid futures predicted for them by doctors.

[Sharon Hunt]

04:24 PM on 02/17/2012

oh man, what a way to die...just the fact that she studied it and followed through. How terribly sad.

[Num1Christy]

03:30 PM on 02/17/2012

I'm so sorry. It's such a shame she didn't have more to live for.