What happened to Dax Cowart?
Donald Herbert Cowart (December 16, 1947 – April 28, 2019), better known as Dax Cowart, was an attorney and a former United States Air Force pilot who served in the Vietnam War. He was born in Henderson, Texas. In 1973, Cowart sustained debilitating injuries from a propane gas explosion that resulted in the loss of his hands and eyes.
What happened to Dax from Texas?
Dax settled with the gas company for $1 million, flew to Mexico to kill himself, sat on the tarmac with a gun to his head, and returned to Texas.
Was it not worth it for Dax to go through pain?
But in the video, Dax argued that the physicians had done him wrong, that "it was not worth it" to go through the pain he had been put through. And who were we to know what his life was like in that burn unit with the Master of Pain hovering over him? And how much worse because physicians, like hideous torturers at Gitmo, had forced him to under...
Did Dax use the video to teach thousands of medical students?
Afterwards, I told Dax I had used the video of his case to teach thousands of medical students. "And did they learn the right thing from it?" he asked.
How long was Dax Cowart in the hospital?
After 14 months of hospitalization, he was released into his mother's care. To Mr. Cowart, who had played football in high school, ridden in rodeos and flown for the Air Force as a pilot in the Vietnam War, the prospect of a disabled life was nearly as daunting as the pain.
How old was Dax Cowart when he was injured?
In 1973, 25-year-old Dax Cowart, former captain of his high school football team, former Air Force pilot, rodeo rider, and aspiring commercial pilot, was severely burned as a result of a freak accident.
How did Dax Cowart get burned?
In 1973, Cowart sustained debilitating injuries from a propane gas explosion that resulted in the loss of his hands and eyes. He suffered significant hearing loss, and was so severely burned over most of his body that the only place where his skin remained undamaged was on the bottom of his feet.
How many psychologists both evaluated Dax Cowart's mental and decisional competence and determined that Dax was competent to make decisions concerning his care?
Two psychologists found Cowart competent to refuse care on the grounds of his excruciating pain and his view that his future would be incompatible with his desired quality of life. His physicians, who argued that he lacked decision-making capacity and thus could not reject treatment, overrode Cowart's refusal of care.