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Article: Website recruits dying patients to deliver telegrams to the dead Church groups condemn the use of terminally ill volunteers as ' predatory and cruel '
- Article from:
- The Sunday Telegraph London
- Article date:
- March 13, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2005 The Sunday Telegraph London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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A SERVICE THAT uses terminally ill volunteers to deliver telegrams
to the afterlife has been condemned as ``predatory and cruel'' by
religious and charity groups.
Afterlife Telegrams, a non-profit making organisation, asks those
who wish to contact a dead relative or friend for a ``donation'' of
$5 ( pounds 2.60) a word. The message is then memorised by a
terminally ill volunteer who will endeavour to pass it on when he or
she dies. The fee, depending on the wishes of the messenger, is then
given to a relative, a charity or put towards the payment of medical
bills. All the volunteers have a prognosis of survival for a year or
less. If they live longer than a year, the fee is reimbursed and ...