Don't be too quick to judge

When reading my rss feeds this morning, I came across this posting from the Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/we-killed-matthew-parents/2006/09/26/1159036542249.html

While reading posts in the headlines about murders, etc., it's easy to become quite numb to it all. However, this one nearly had me in tears, not just for the young guy that's been killed, but for the parents involved.

Those that know me well know I have a disabled daughter with nowhere near the problems that this young guy had. Every time I used to feel bad about our situation, all I needed to do was to think about the other parents I had seen at the special school that my daughter attended and suddenly I didn't feel so bad at all. I then felt lucky to only have the issues we had. I just couldn't understand how some of those other parents coped at all. And it's not a short-term thing. They live with their situations every day of their lives, often with very little assistance.

The headline story is about a family with a young guy 28 years old that can't see, has part of his face missing and the only external input to his life is his hearing. He was faced with needing to have an operation that would have removed his hearing for at least three months, if not permanently. The accusation seem to be that the parents have spent some time letting him enjoy the things they know he loves, tranquilised him and smothered him.

It's easy to just say "that's the wrong thing to do" but don't be too quick to judge unless you've ever walked in those shoes. I have no idea about the rights/wrongs in this case but I was left wondering whether the jury involved would be made up of people that have "been there". I hope for all involved in this tragic story that at least some of them have.