Assisted death procedure ‘horrible’

A Vancouver man’s last day alive became an excruciating ordeal after the Catholic- run hospital caring for him rebuffed his request for a doctor- assisted death, forcing him to transfer to another hospital, his family says.

The combination of the cross- town trip and inadequate pain control left Ian Shearer, 87, in agony through most of his final hours, says daughter Jan Lackie.

“To hear him crying out, screaming … was just horrible,” said Lackie, breaking into tears as she recalled the day in late August. “That’s what keeps me from sleeping at night … I don’t want any other person to go through what he did.”