Newlywed Visits Grand Canyon Before Ending Her Life Nov. 1

By Annie Gabillet
The Brittany Fund
The Brittany Fund

Have you heard of Brittany Maynard yet? She's the 29-year-old newlywed who plans to end her life on Nov. 1. In January of this year, she found out she has a malignant brain tumor. Soon after, her prognosis worsened, and Brittany was only given a few months to live. Thus, this brave young woman made the choice to end her life with dignity. But before that, she has a few things to do. She's celebrating her husband's birthday on Oct. 30. And this week, she visited the Grand Canyon — something she's had on her bucket list. Brittany wrote to her supporters on her website:

This week, my family and I traveled to the Grand Canyon, thanks to the kindness of Americans around the country who came forward to make my "bucket list" dream come true. The Canyon was breathtakingly beautiful, and I was able to enjoy my time with the two things I love most: my family and nature.

Sadly, it is impossible to forget my cancer. Severe headaches and neck pain are never far away, and unfortunately the next morning I had my worst seizure thus far. My speech was paralyzed for quite a while after I regained consciousness, and the feeling of fatigue continued for the rest of the day.

She asked those who have been moved by her story to support death-with-dignity laws in their own states and said: "My dream is that every terminally ill American has access to the choice to die on their own terms with dignity."