AILING WOMAN WANTED TO DIE, FRIENDS RECALL : TEXT OF ELAINE LOUISE DAY LETTER.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen, Jaxon Van Derbeken and Stacy Finz Daily News Staff Writers

Elaine Louise Day had been a graceful dancer. But at 79 and ravaged by Lou Gehrig's disease, she increasingly spoke of suicide as the only solution to the pain and burden of life, her friends say.

The Newhall woman's friends recall how they had rescued her from an overdose of pills, only to hear her complain bitterly that she had failed again to end what was left of her life.

Day spoke glowingly of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the so-called suicide doctor. ``I only hope that one day we will have a Dr. Kevorkian here in California,'' she wrote in a letter to the editor published Dec. 27 in the Daily News.

She told a friend she wanted to contact Kevorkian. Apparently, she did.

In the early hours of Monday morning, her body was found in Kevorkian's rusted Volkswagen van, parked outside the medical examiner's office in Pontiac, Mich.

Kevorkian has not told authorities whether he had a role in Day's death, and coroner's investigators have ruled her death a case of homicide, not suicide or assisted suicide. They say Day could not have given herself the fatal injection of potassium chloride because she had a malformed arm and was weakened by the disease.

``But she wasn't in immediate danger of dying from her neurological disease,'' added Oakland County Chief Medical Examiner L.J. Dragovic.

Investigators in Michigan identified Kevorkian as one of several suspects and expected to speak with his attorney Tuesday, said Oakland County sheriff's Capt. Damon Shields.

``If you had a list of suspects, he'd have to appear there somewhere because it is his vehicle,'' Shields said.

An anonymous caller who apparently sounded like Kevorkian alerted the coroner's office to the location of Day's body, Dragovic said.

``After dealing with 37 cases directly linked to Dr. Kevorkian, investigators here know what his voice sounds like,'' Dragovic said.

Kevorkian has admitted his role in 45 previous deaths since 1990 and faces criminal charges in the Aug. 30 death of Loretta Peabody, 54, a Michigan woman suffering from multiple sclerosis. He could face up to 18 years in prison if convicted.

Day spoke out publicly against Kevorkian's prosecution.

``It infuriates me,'' she wrote in the letter published in the Daily News.

On Sunday at Day's convalescent home in Newhall, she told friends that she was traveling to Michigan and would return Wednesday; she gave no hint as to the purpose of her trip.

If Day had her choice, she wouldn't have had to travel to Michigan.

``Actually, if patients had the comfort of knowing there was a way out when things got too bad'' she wrote, ``it would ease their minds to a point where they might find some enjoyment in their final years.''

By all accounts, Day's love of life was lost entirely to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which attacks the central nervous system, destroying muscles to the point of paralysis.

One of her friends, Merritt Wolf said Day described how she had fallen from bed 15 times in a single month.

``She told me she was going to call Dr. Kevorkian,'' he said. ``I'm sure it had something to do with her pride. She did not want to be a burden. She is now at peace.''

Day's daughter was too distraught to comment Tuesday, a friend said.

Mary Younkman, who lived in Day's condominium complex, said her friend was losing ground quickly, but she tried to live normally; she voted by proxy last week on a condominium association matter.

Yet Younkman and others said they knew suicide had become Day's obsession. ``She wanted to do it,'' she said.

It wasn't for lack of trying.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies say Day took an accidental overdose of prescription medication June 24 and that there was no evidence of an attempted suicide, according to records.

But her friends say it was a desperate attempt to kill herself with pills and liquor. And they sKay they should know: They found her.

That day, her neighbor Richard Krusiewicz said he had become concerned when she didn't answer her door. He and another neighbor, Ruth Eaton, went inside Day's condominium and found her lying on her bed.

``She had notes all over the place saying, `Please don't try to resuscitate me,'' Eaton said.

Day later told Eaton she had consumed alcohol, various pills and then Dramamine to avoid vomiting. Last, Day tried to place a plastic bag over her face, said Eaton.

Eaton called 911. After Day recovered, her family moved her to the Capri Retirement Villa in Newhall, where she had full-time care, Eaton said.

After the attempt, ``she was really angry that it had failed,'' Eaton said.

Friends at Capri described her as a once-vibrant woman who became hobbled in the quicksand of illness.

Once an avid dancer, Day could barely leave her wheelchair.

Krusiewicz recalled dancing with Day as the disease progressed. ``She got slower and slower,'' he said. ``We used to beat the young people. We danced everything - like professionals.''

Yet even as the disease took hold, Day did not lose her generosity. She spent time caring for a neighbor who suffered from lung cancer, said Robbin Day, who is no relation to Day.

And she joined the ALS Association, never missing a monthly meeting until Saturday.

Dr. W. King Engel, an expert on Lou Gehrig's disease at USC, said the ailment kills most people within three years of the first symptoms. Many don't wait that long, he added.

``I average three patients a year who make the choice to take their own life,'' Engel said.

At first, Eaton resisted Day's desire to die. She gave her a book by an author with Lou Gehrig's disease, highlighting sentences that inspired hope.

But Day's condition worsened, Eaton said. And she grew to accept her friend's death wish.

``Later on, I realized, with the limping, the wobbling and the walker,'' Eaton said. ``I defend your right to choose.''

To the editor:

I am writing this letter to bring the public's attention to the misery and suffering that patients with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) go through before dying an agonizing death.

Just going through all the exams to obtain a diagnosis is made is by the elimination of every other possible cause. The anxiety and worry go on for months.

The symptoms vary with individuals, but most patients end up completely paralyzed, and cannot swallow, so saliva has to be siphoned out of their mouths. They cannot speak, lose bladder control and eventually cannot breathe. So death comes through choking on their own saliva or suffocating as the lungs no longer work.

There is a complete loss of dignity as someone else must shower them, feed them, diaper them, turn them over in bed and try to make them comfortable even though they are unable to voice their needs. This sometimes goes on for months and years. Not only is the patient suffering, but so are the family members as they watch a loved one deteriorate.

The only FDA approved medicine is Rilutek which costs more than $700 a month and does not cure but just delays the end, thus prolonging the misery. The cost of nursing care is astronomical.

As an ALS patient, myself, I have been watching the ``do-gooders'' trying to persecute Dr. Kevorkian for helping people end their suffering and it infuriates me. I wish it were possible for those fighting him to live for one week with this disease and see how quickly they would run to him for relief. I only Khope that one day we will have a Dr. Kevorkian here in California. At least, then, we would have the same compassion shown us as is shown to animals who are suffering.

Actually, if patients had the comfort of knowing there was a way out when things got too bad, it would ease their minds to a point where they might find some enjoyment in their final years. It certainly would cut down on attempted suicides and, ironically, a ``Dr. Kevorkian'' here in California might be prolonging peoples' lives.

I hope this letter will inspire those who are hopelessly ill and others who agree to write letters to our legislators. Letters from courageous doctors who would be willing to help those of us who want an end to our suffering, would certainly be a great help. Please write. Thank you.

Elaine L. Day

Santa Clarita

CAPTION(S):

box

Box: Test of Elaine Louise Day letter (see text)