Dax Cowart — The Right to Die is Mine and Only Mine

For nearly all of my blog posts, I’ve aimed to make some point. Whether regarding autonomy, trying to gauge a larger issue, or just telling a story, but I do not believe any are as impactful as the one I tell today.

Dax Cowart was, when I was introduced to his story, simply a man that was being lectured to me in class. It did not take long for me to recognize the importance of the man who was not just an object of a lecture. He advocated for patient’s rights, specifically that of the right to die. Dax Cowart was not like Dr. Death who I have written about previously. Both advocated for patient’s rights to die. One was on the side of medicine, the other, on the side of suffering. Yet both men, Dax Cowart at a much greater extent than Dr. Death, is relatively unknown. Dax Cowart’s story deserves to be known. He is not simply someone who advocated for his own interests, but that of patients in general, those he would never meet or ever know. Mr. Cowart used a life that he did not want to live, in order to be there for someone who needed him. This is his story.

Donald Cowart (before he changed his name to Dax) was simply a product of a loving middle-class American home in the 1950’s. He loved to play sports and was a sought after football player. Following high school, Cowart went on a tour of duty in Vietnam as a pilot. Cowart remained in the Air Force reserve after his tour.

It was the summer of 1973. Cowart remained a plot in the Air Force reserve and was spending his time at home with his family. Mr. Cowart went with his father to an area of land his father was looking to purchase. Unbeknown to the Cowarts, there was a severe gas leak: the entire area was littered with propane gas in the air. After inspecting the land, the Cowarts entered their car to leave. The ignition of the car engine sparked all of the gas, causing the car to nearly instantly catch fire along with its surroundings. Both men were severely burned, charred and disfigured beyond comprehension. Cowart lost his eyes, hands, eyes, and nearly all of his skin on his body. His father died on the way the hospital, but Cowart survived.

Once recalling to an audience, Cowart said the he was in such excruciating pain, he wished to die at that very moment. He indeed, asked his rescuer to give him a gun, which his rescuer “in a very kind and compassionate way” told him he could not do that. From the very onset, Cowart wanted to die, fearing that he would no longer be the same individual with the same capabilities, even if he were to recover.

For the next 10 months, Cowart underwent forced treatment. Because the effects of painkillers were not entirely understood, Cowart was more or less left to his own devices to handle pain. As a result of his severe and extensive burns, Cowart was in pain incessantly. Nearly every time he could, Cowart begged his doctors to die, which they refused. The array of “treatments” available to Cowart were not only excruciating, but on a daily basis. They involved constant application and removal of bandages on his highly sensitive, damaged skin, chlorinated baths (which, in an attempt to fight away infection, causes a highly painful stinging sensation to exposed skin),and removal of dead skin with the sharpest instruments. A grimacing Cowart equated the treatments to being “skinned alive” on a regular basis. Despite all of this, he was refused any form of communication in which could have gotten him legal assistance. Desperately, Cowart attempted suicide on multiple occasions. He was never successful. For those ten months, Cowart’s every single day was one in which he did not want to see the end of.

After release from the hospital, Cowart remained blind and without hands. Despite this, he earned his law degree from Texas Tech University and went on to found his own practice. Currently, Cowart specializes in medical malpractice, specifically cases involving breaches on patient autonomy. To this day, Cowart viciously fights for the rights of patients, as he had experienced his own personal hell for years of his life, all of a result of his treatment at his hospital.

The story of Dax Cowart is as harrowing as it is important. Of course, his outcome, his entire situation would have been drastically different if it had taken place today. This is entirely besides the point. The point of his life, the lesson he teaches us, is not one that hinges on his circumstances at the time. It doesn’t even hinge on his will to live, which was for most of his life, not there. This case elucidates the structure of medicine, and the rights that are afforded to ourselves.

Cowart was a champion of patient’s rights. His personal experiences drove him to become an attorney, where he could make the difference that could not be made when he was a suffering patient himself. The case of Cowart elucidates the fact that, in my opinion, there is something beyond medicine itself. There is not just treatment. There is empathy, there is understanding, compassion, the underlying emotional nuances that make us human. Where was this during Cowart’s time?

To be fair, no physician in Cowart’s world would have been willing to grant him death. While they undoubtedly sympathized with him, any form of assisted suicide was non-existent. That was known as murder. They would go to jail. His injuries, while horrific, were not terminal. His physicians dismissed any chance of his life ending, because they, presumably, saw treatment options.

What Cowart revealed was that there was a system that was bigger than these elements of humanity. The system, both at the time consisting of the codes of physicians along with the law, prevented someone who wanted nothing else but to die, just that. Death. Death was without consideration. Whatever Cowart wanted, out of consideration.

Now in the defense of the physicians, as I said, it at the time was murder. Equally, Cowart undoubtedly suffered from mental health problems that may have impeded his judgment. But this event highlights an important point: we as human beings, deserve the right to dictate what happens to our bodies. Not in just in the form of living or dying, but completely beyond that. We should have control over our treatment, our livelihoods. Modern medicine respects many of these points very well. However, the aspect of this we still struggle with his assisted suicide. Why are we so hesitant to grant it? Are we viewing death as a crime, or a release for people who need it?

I am not advocating for absolutely anyone who wishes to die to be granted such. It is far, far more complicated than just wanting to die. But I am advocating, as Cowart was, for an avenue. A discussion, an ability to express what the physician may offer and what I want. Individuals should have the option to die. Of course, the right to die becomes vastly complicated with regulations, laws, and stipulations. I do not believe these are without merit. I do believe, however, at the end of the day, that Cowart fought for that simple point that eludes so many of us. It is not a crime to die. It is our right.