A Blogger Takes Flight

There are as many ways to face a terminal diagnosis as there are people who receive those diagnoses… but perhaps one of the bravest ways is to document your illness for a wide audience.

Blogger Doug Gosling did just that. When he was diagnosed with incurable prostate cancer at the unusually young age of 49, he created a blog, Dying Digitally, in which he shared news of his illness along with musings – sparked by his impending death – on a wide variety of topics. Like others who write blogs or newspaper columns or public journals when faced with a final illness, Gosling was candid and frank, and his words were often heartbreaking.

Photo by Flickr Creative Commons/Stephen A. Wolfe

In his final post, Gosling talked about a pair of silver wings on a chain he was given. He looked to them for strength to reach his final destination, wherever it would be. Doug Gosling took flight last week, but his words will help him live on – in the hearts of those he loved, and in the minds of others facing illness who turn to his blog for strength.

Written by Linnea Crowther