
Neil Lyndon’s mother was a ‘tough old bird’, healthy well into her ninth decade. But when the end came, he felt powerless to ease her suffering.
“Can you see me, Mum?” I was sitting in the armchair in her room at the nursing home, about 10 feet from the bed in which she lay. “No,” she answered.
I got out of the chair and advanced half-way towards her. “Can you see me now?”