M E N T O R

Editor’s Prize for
Keep me alive // Let me live
writing 2016
Congratulations to Elizabeth Georgina Ryan Harper who has won this year’s
Editor’s Prize for a written contribution. Her work, “Been there, done that, got
nothing but the t-shirt” can be seen on page 19 of the May edition.
Elizabeth will receive £100 in book vouchers.
Highly commended goes to Rebecca Wray, whose work, “The screening paradox”
can be seen in this issue on page 31.
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All submissions in a calendar year are eligibile to win the Editor’s Prize. The award
goes to the piece of work deemed to be of the highest quality; taking into account
the originality and polish of the final piece, as well as the steps undertaken to achieve
it. The winning piece is chosen by the editorial team.
Simple daily decisions, such
as whether to have an apple
or a chocolate bar, to take
the stairs or the lift, or even
whether to re-read your favourite
book or binge-watch yet another
TV show all have an important impact
on a person’s life. The ‘correct’
choice for each of these scenarios
can lead to a healthier lifestyle and
increased longevity; values we ordinarily
rate highly. What you choose
to do with your time ultimately boils
down to how you want the rest of
your life to play out, although it does
not normally seem that our decisions
will have such far reaching consequences.
Sometimes, when you do
not have a whole lot of life left, the
decision you have to make is whether
to try and increase the number of
days you have left, or to make the
most of the ones that remain. Often,
both can be benefitted or detrimented
from the same decision; smoking
will lead you to an early grave, and
it will do so from a hospital bed attached
to an oxygen canister.
Ela Karbaron
out every last drop of life at any cost.
In my opinion, to prolong life in this
way, without regard for the way you
spend each day, is to live without
satisfaction. There is nothing about
spending your last days in a hospital
bed attached to countless tubes that
says ‘living’ to me. This may seem
unjust; after all, I’m not living each
day to the fullest. Many people my
age and younger, even adults in the
work force, are unsure of what they
somewhere you have always wanted
to go, to volunteer with the elderly
to give you a sense of responsibility
and fulfilment, or even to make that
extra effort with your friends and
family. One thing all of these examples
have in common is that they encourage
and secure enjoyment and
happiness. These may not be your
goals, but you must have a purpose,
whatever it is, in order to meet the
definition of living: ‘the pursuit of a
lifestyle of a specified type’. It is not
There are those treatments that give you extra
days, and others that give you better days. There
are some that do both and others that, sadly, end
up doing neither. When it comes to make the
choice, if you cannot have both, which do you
decide to take?
To be alive is simply to continue
breathing. It is what you do whilst
you are alive and breathing that
matters. To prolong life, with
no purpose other than to keep the
heart ticking over, would be to completely
disregard the quality of life
a patient desires. They are existing
without any fulfilment or satisfaction.
To prolong living, however,
is to increase the time in which
you can achieve the things you want
to achieve and live the life you wish
to lead. Most of the time, there is no
decision to be made between the two
but, eventually, for many patients,
push comes to shove and we have to
decide; go out in flames or squeeze
are aiming for in life. We are living in
the rigid routine that school or work
forces upon us. We are unable to live
each day exactly as we wish, but that
doesn’t mean to say that teenagers
are not living. Each of us must draw
our own line, but it is rarely a case
of choosing the single best thing in
all walks of life. It is usually other
choices that determine whether we
are truly experiencing enjoyment
and doing things we love, and it is
up to us to make choices that have
a positive impact on our lives, with
whatever spare time we have to
make them. This could be to travel
enough to spend your days without
aim; we talk about a person’s raison
d’être for good reason.
The terminally ill are faced with
the very real decision of what to do
with their remaining days. For the
purpose of this article, I have divided
their options in two: prolonging
living, or prolonging life. There are
those treatments that give you extra
days, and others that give you better
days. There are some that do both
and others that, sadly, end up doing
neither. When it comes to make
the choice, if you cannot have both,
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