Kenny Irby: How did the "At the Edge Of Life" project originate, and how long have you done this kind of work?
Hebert: The concept of the project was born before I started working at the Morning News. Our project began with personal loss. Reporter Lee Hancock's youngest brother spent five years in and out of ICUs before succumbing in 2005 to complications from a fungal infection. She saw how everyone around a hospital bed suffers when no one can talk openly about mortality.
Death is the last great taboo, a subject few volunteer to explore intimately. Our newsroom is no exception, as it routinely covers accidents, violence and freakish tragedies but rarely examines how death comes about for ordinary people. We felt compelled to look at our way of dying and how we might cover the subject better.
Thanks to the Medical Futility blog for sharing.
