Pull her plug

An Elk River man is being charged with the attempted murder of his mother.

An Elk River man has been charged with attempted murder for trying to suffocate his mother with a pillow after an argument over money, according to a court document filed in Sherburne County District Court.

Dieter Cafferty, 43, lives with his mother, Anna Cafferty. She is very close to brain death, the document said. Her only neurological response is breathing, the document said. Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids is releasing no information about her.

The son is being held in the county jail.

Now see if his version makes sense.

On Friday, Elk River police were called to Cafferty's townhouse. Anna Cafferty, 79, was found on a bed in an upstairs bedroom. She didn't have a pulse, but an officer revived her.

Cafferty told police his mother came home from errand and went to lie down because she wasn't feeling well. When he went to check on her, she had a pillow over her head. He tried to remove it, but he said she placed it back on her head.

The son went to a neighbor when he realized she wasn't breathing and then called 911. Doctors at the hospital called police when they found evidence that indicated Cafferty's mother might have been suffocated.

Cafferty later told police he put a pillow over her head for one to two minutes after a heated argument. He stopped after she yelled his name.

He has been charged with second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault.

But I want to draw your attention to the phrase in the story about her current condition: "Her only neurological response is breathing". Perhaps we should pull the plug on her. I mean, from what I learned last year the quality of life is all that matters and how could anyone stand to be alive if they are not thinking, running, playing, talking and especially if the only thing the brain is doing is breathing.