Crime or Compassion?

Product Description

'I felt a tap on my shoulder. I lifted my head and turned around. To my horror, I saw two garda standing behind me. One of them asked, Are you Gail O'Rorke? In that instant, I knew in my heart that they were aware of Bernadette's trip and everything had suddenly gone terribly wrong...'

In 1998, Gail O'Rorke met Bernadette Forde, and a deep friendship quickly formed. But sadly Bernadette, who suffered from a severe form of multiple sclerosis, soon found that her health was worsening and, following a horrific car crash, she was confined to a wheelchair. Gail became Bernadette's carer shortly afterward.

As Bernadette's health further declined, she decided she wished to choose her time to die, by travelling to Dignitas in Switzerland. No longer well enough to make the full arrangements herself, Gail was helping her and planned to accompany her. But then, the tap on the shoulder happened, and Bernadette's carefully organised plans and hope of a dignified, peaceful death were shattered.

Bernadette took her life in 2011, and in the months that followed, Gail was questioned by the police in a series of interviews before being formally charged with attempting to assist her friend's suicide.

Crime of Compassion? tells that compelling story for the first time. It is a passionate ode to enduring friendship and the human capacity to reach out to others in their time of need. It is also the heart-breaking account of the price one woman paid because of it, as she stood trial for assisted suicide before being finally acquitted, ending four years of torment. An unforgettable read that asks a fundamental question: what would you do?

'I felt a tap on my shoulder. I lifted my head and turned around. To my horror, I saw two garda standing behind me. One of them asked, Are you Gail O'Rorke? In that instant, I knew in my heart that they were aware of Bernadette's trip and everything had suddenly gone terribly wrong...'

In 1998, Gail O'Rorke met Bernadette Forde, and a deep friendship quickly formed. But sadly Bernadette, who suffered from a severe form of multiple sclerosis, soon found that her health was worsening and, following a horrific car crash, she was confined to a wheelchair. Gail became Bernadette's carer shortly afterward.

As Bernadette's health further declined, she decided she wished to choose her time to die, by travelling to Dignitas in Switzerland. No longer well enough to make the full arrangements herself, Gail was helping her and planned to accompany her. But then, the tap on the shoulder happened, and Bernadette's carefully organised plans and hope of a dignified, peaceful death were shattered.

Bernadette took her life in 2011, and in the months that followed, Gail was questioned by the police in a series of interviews before being formally charged with attempting to assist her friend's suicide.

Crime of Compassion? tells that compelling story for the first time. It is a passionate ode to enduring friendship and the human capacity to reach out to others in their time of need. It is also the heart-breaking account of the price one woman paid because of it, as she stood trial for assisted suicide before being finally acquitted, ending four years of torment. An unforgettable read that asks a fundamental question: what would you do?

Gail O'Rorke was born and raised in Crumlin, Dublin. She left school at an early age and was the mother of two children by the age of twenty, marrying her lifelong partner at twenty-one.

From a turbulent background, she overcame many obstacles in her early years. She worked in a variety of cleaning jobs one of which led her to meet Bernadette Forde, who was a sufferer of multiple sclerosis. The loyalty and love of friendship resulted in her being the first person in the history of Ireland to be charged with the crime of assisting a suicide.

After many years of fear and worry she was acquitted on 28 April 2015 at the Central Criminal Court of Justice, after a gruelling three-week trial. She continues to be an advocate for the right to die with dignity campaign.

She now enjoys life surrounded by her partner Barry, their two grown children and three grandchildren.