Strange how the written word can sometimes reach each of us differently. I didn't get anything approaching 'blaming the victim' from this post. I felt that Tom was saying more about the waste of life (whatever the reason) and was writing a very honest piece about his own emotions and reaction to the total experience in that location ; i.e. not just his feelings about the patient, but about the whole social context of the patient. This sort of very direct access to one's own feelings, along with the ability to record those feelings so clearly and so soon afterwards is very rare. Great piece of writing Tom.