The Art of Dying Well The Art of Dying Well

On this episode of the Art of Dying Well podcast, we're breaking the taboo around end of life planning.

Host James Abbott sits down with Matthew Hutton, the author of a very useful book called Your Last Gift - an accessible guide to getting your affairs in order.

Matthew Hutton is a man who wears many professional hats – lawyer, one intimately acquainted with drawing up Wills and administering probate; tax adviser; estate planning expert; farmer (!) and Church of England minister.

He shares his wisdom on topics such as the importance of having a Will, and setting up lasting powers of attorney, as well as examining the emotional and philosophical dimensions of confronting mortality, leaving a legacy, and finding meaning in the face of death.

Through their conversation, Abbott and Hutton aim to break the taboo surrounding end of life planning and encourage listeners to take proactive steps in preparing for the inevitable - ultimately providing peace of mind for themselves and their loved ones.

The first Art of Dying Well podcast of 2024 looks at coma recovery, second chances and spiritual awakening.

James Macintyre, a freelance journalist and biographer, describes his extraordinary near-death experience giving a first-hand account of the life-threatening pancreatitis he endured in May 2023 that led to a five-week coma and four-month hospitalisation.

James was admitted to the intensive care unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in a critical condition. Doctors informed him that he was suffering from severe pancreatitis that could be fatal. After a difficult week involving blunt conversations with medical staff about the possibility of dying, he was placed in a medically-induced coma to aid his breathing and survival.

Whilst in a coma,  James nearly died when doctors performed emergency tracheostomy surgery. Thankfully he pulled through, but awoke to the devastating news that his mother had died while he was unconscious.

James credits his survival and new outlook to the excellent hospital care he received as well as his Christian faith. He now hopes to impart lessons about valuing each day, having an attitude of gratitude, and centering one’s life on eternity, rather than worldly pursuits.

Traditionally November is the month for remembering; for remembrance services; the lighting of candles; special prayers and the blessing of graves.

In this special episode of the podcast, made in partnership with the Catholic Church in England and Wales, we offer an opportunity for reflection and remembrance in the company of Father George Bowen as he takes us on a tour of the beautiful London Oratory.

And on Remembrance Sunday itself we pause to reflect on the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. Not only do we stop to remember our dead, but to hope and pray for peace in the world today.

In part two of our special episode in support of Baby Loss Awareness Week in the UK, our host James Abbott speaks to two wonderful people who took their own trauma and grief and did an incredible thing with it. They founded a charity to help people in the same painful position they were in – a position nobody wants to find themselves in - facing the death of a baby.

Jo and David Ward went through the tragedy of the death of their daughter, Abigail, who was stillborn at 41 weeks, and they’re here to share their story with us now and to talk about their marvellous charity Abigail’s Footsteps set up in memory of Abigail.
With still births and neonatal deaths standing at around 14 a day in England and Wales – sadly one of the highest rates in the developed world - the work of the charity has never been more important.

There can be few things more devastating than the death of a child. This incredibly emotive and difficult subject is the focus of this episode, which takes the form of two testimony-based podcasts. 
In part one we hear from Saskia Hogbin who tragically lost her baby, Josef, 28 weeks into her pregnancy.

We are releasing this episode in Baby Loss Awareness Week in the UK (9th-15th October). Now in its 21st year, the week is an opportunity for everyone in the baby loss community and beyond to come together to remember and commemorate much-loved and missed babies.

More than one in five pregnancies end in miscarriage, that’s around a quarter of a million in the UK each year, and although most occur in the first three months, they can happen much later. When you lose a baby late in pregnancy the grief and pain is visited on everyone and the loss is acute, but there can be shards of light in the darkness. 

This episode has the rather provocative title Listen to me, I’m dying! But what do we mean by that? Find out as host James Abbott discusses with our guests how much of a say do we really have over what happens when we die? Will our wishes be respected? And what about those emergency situations in case we change our minds over what happens next?

Just like birthing plans at the start of life, shouldn’t we all have a plan for how we exit this world so we can be as reconciled and at peace as possible? Alongside this we’ll consider an interesting piece of research carried out in partnership with The Centre for the Art of Dying Well, to examine the impact of the digital world on death and grief. 
We’re delighted to be joined by Professor Julia Riley, who spoke so eloquently on the subject of Diagnosing Dying in episode 25. Julia is a consultant in Palliative Medicine at the Royal Marsden and Royal Brompton NHS Trusts and a Visiting Professor at Imperial College London. She founded the initiative Coordinate My Care with the aim of providing patients with integrated, coordinated and quality care they would prefer, particularly at the end of life. 
And making his first appearance on the podcast is Dr Shaun Qureshi, a specialist in palliative medicine, who’s been researching the medicalisation of dying and grief, in among other things, the post digital age.