CNN | End-of-life doulas help people die comfortably. In a pandemic, they’re more important than ever

(CNN) – Alua Arthur wasn’t looking for death.

At 34, she was trying hard to stay alive. Clinical depression had forced a leave of absence from her job as a lawyer, and she was traveling on a bus in Cuba when it met her: A woman, only two years older than her, dying of uterine cancer.

The two sat and talked for the seven hours to the woman’s destination, and then for seven more when she decided to skip her stop.

Their conversation was about the end of life. It was the first time, the woman told Arthur, that someone had spoken with her about her disease and the possibility of dying.  —read more—