The Superior Court Justice, Maurice Laramee, who gave Marielle Houle three years probation and spared her serving any jail time for asphyxiating her son said, “**This court will not fix a sentence to serve as a general model in other cases.” **Who does he think he is kidding? Of course, Laramee is sending out a very strong message that this mother’s response to her son, who was depressed because he was in the early stages of M.S., was appropriate.
M.S. is not necessarily a fatal disease neither is it predictable that the patient will end up with a chronic progressive debilitating illness. While that is the worse case scenario many sufferers live long, productive lives. People with disabilities can learn to adapt and adjust their goals and expectations to accomodate their physical handicaps. There will be more challenges but an indomitable will can triumph if the natural dynamic to live is encouraged and fostered in a loving environment. His mother should have taught him how to live with M.S. not played into his fears. With time her son, Charles Fariala, would have learned to work around his M.S. and the insights his disease would have taught him may even have enriched his playwrighting. What a waste of talent.
Ironically, in the same newspaper with this report was a full page article called, “A message of hope” featuring Jean Vanier, a champion of rights for people with disabilities for more than forty years.
