Brittany Maynard Wrote Last Email to a Stranger

Just hours before she passed away, 'Death with Dignity' advocate Brittany Maynard sent an email to a stranger thanking her for fighting for "the choice of dignity in death".

Babara Mancini, a 58-year-old resident of Philadelphia, had written an email to Maynard late October. However, the mother-of-two did not expect the cancer patient to respond to her mail. "In the note, I told her I admired what she was doing. I felt it was selfless and courageous. I never expected she would respond because it was late October and I knew she was having daily seizures and she was getting worse all the time," Mancini told ABC.

Mancini herself has fought for 'Death with Dignity'. In July 2013, the former nurse was arrested for giving a lethal dose of morphine to her 93-year-old father who had been terminally ill.

"I was under prosecution for a year. It was a horrible, horrible thing to go through," she said. She further said that even though the case was dismissed this past February, the experience will last forever. Apart from enduring the pain of being forced to see her father die, Mancini also had to face suspension from her nurse's job and had to waste around $100,000 in defense attorney fees.  

"On every level it was wrong," Mancini said. "It still haunts me everyday." 

Mancini and Maynard were very different as individuals but the two had at least one thing in common - the will to fight for 'Death with Dignity". "I felt a connection with her on a deep level because of what my experience was, so I wrote her a short message," Mancini told People.

In response to her email, Maynard wrote: "It meant so much for me to receive your kind letter the other day, especially as I'm preparing for my own passing. Yes, I am familiar with the history of your case and have always been appalled that it was ever litigated." 

Maynard said that she believed Mancini had done her best to prevent her father from enduring more pain.

Maynard continued: "I am so sorry you had to endure that. That is a difficult job. As a terminally ill person myself, I understand what the level of sacrifice means for a loving and supportive family on an emotional, physical and financial level.

Now, Mancini has quit her job to become a full-time advocate for 'Compassion & Choices' - the organization that fights for the end-of-life choice. Maynard had partnered with the organization to launch her online video campaign on 6 October.