At death's door

On March 23, 2004, William and Kay McClanahan celebrated their 30th anniversary by reenacting their first date: They ate pizza and worked crossword puzzles. Last week, Mrs. McClanahan marked their 31st by attending a medical ethics board at which a team of doctors told her she may soon have to let her husband die.

On April 27, 2004, after a full day of training horses on his South Carolina farm, Mr. McClanahan, 74, took his wife out to dinner. But after the meal, his heart suddenly stopped beating. Mrs. McClanahan, 60, a retired forensic chemist and law enforcement agent, administered CPR until medics arrived and revived him. Mr. McClanahan remained unconscious, breathing on his own, but aided by a respirator. In June, Mrs. McClanahan had him transferred to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), a highly reputed facility where she had once worked as a biochemical researcher.