I feel you, I also unfortunately have experiences with that. It has profoundly changed my view on living, especially how I want to be treated when someday I'm heavily sick.

A family member in a coma takes a heavy toll on you, emotionally and financially. They are simultaneously there and not there. If they did not write down how they want to be treated you can never make a decision where you are sure what's right, or if they even want to be kept alive while not living. Eventually, when all your savings are burned through, when you might need to sell your house, you really wonder if that's what they wanted and if all that was worth it.

For me, the decision is clear: when I'm not able to make my own decisions turn everything off and let me die.

One of my children nearly drowned in the bathtub. She was already unconscious and floating on the water. She had stopped breathing. My wife (who was sitting only 3 meters away in the living room and had talked to her the minutes before) revived her. She made a full recovery in the hospital.

I agree in principle. But: the aftereffects of nearly losing a child were already quite destabilizing to us, and still are, after several years. There is an overwhelming feeling that things can go catastrophically wrong, at any second, so why even do anything?

I cannot imagine the effect of actually losing a child. I would go insane.

In 1998, a 4-year old girl broke into a frozen pond in Austria [0]. She was found at the bottom of the lake after 30 minutes, with a body temperature of around 18 °C (so much higher than the case described in the article). She made a complete and full recovery (her story was filmed) and afaik lives a completely normal life as an adult now.

[0] https://www.kleinezeitung.at/artikel/3915285/Kaerntner-Wunde...

While I don't know, I suspect the boy's parents do not share your views. He is able to ride a tricycle and improving.

The paper has the warning phrased differently. "He can at least be an organ donor", basically, in the summary.

Your comment and the thread it started helps me a little with dealing with a close person's father's dementia.

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What is TBI?

> profoundly destabilizing to his environment

This is such a dark and dehumanizing take. I am disabled. I definitely had "destabilizing" effects on my environment when I grew up. These days, am as independant as possible. People from your train of thought would have aborted me. Your train of thought leads to what nazi germany already did. Yeah, an extreme example, I know, but following your attitude inevitably leads to very dehumanizing and egotistical takes. In fact, if you consider a family member a burden, please leave, you're the problem, not them.

>40-60 years

Oh shut the hell up! We are in the midst of massive technological revolution year on year especially related to biology and brain function. Yes, ALWAYS rescue someone. Treatment progresses it never stops or moves backwards.