When is someone considered a cholah sheyesh ba sakana

Question

For about 25 years my late mother a"h was afflicted with various serious medical issues, and my question is, if she was considered at any time , or most of the time, a "cholah sheyesh ba sakana." My intention is to be melamed on her any possible zechus, since she was not so observant. The first surgery was a mastectomy, which was followed by 10 years of 2 prescribed drugs - each for 5 years, intended to prevent osteoporosis. She was one of thousands of women who fell victim to a national medical scandal, as one or both of these drugs actually caused the very condition that they were supposed to prevent. My poor unfortunate mother a"h became afflicted with devastating debilitating and apparently irreversible osteoporosis, where bones could suddenly spontaneously break. As a result, she suffered numerous broken bones, even while walking in the street, she could suddenly fall to the ground because her ankle or hip just broke. This lasted for around 14 years, and she had a number of surgeries to repair bones, or insert pins. The last procedure was at age 84, almost 3 and a half years before she passed away, to have a bar fused to her spine to enable her to stand up straight, since being bent over was affecting her ability to breathe and swallow. During the final months while she was in rehab for a while, her collar bone was suddenly broken, and later on in the hospital, her jaw bone became dislocated, and while they were attempting to reset it by hand, they caused a violent reaction of aspiration, which is fluid going into the lungs, and this apparently caused her to suffer a cardiac arrest, and they preformed a resuscitation as instructed despite not wanting to, and although they brought her back, unfortunately for some unknown reason she never seemed to regain consciousness, and the vital organs such as the kidneys and the liver, never recovered from the lack of oxygen, and she tragically passed away about 4 weeks later, may she finally rest in peace. To me this all seems like unspeakable and unimaginable suffering. However, in the eyes of the halacha, what was her halachic status during these years, and would she have been considered a "cholah sheyesh ba sakana" for all or part of this long period of time?

Answer

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

It is not possible to issue a definite ruling as I am not a doctor nor am I familiar with the nuances of the conditions you describe.

As a general rule, however, one whose life is so fragile is indeed considered to be a cholah sheyesh bo sakana.

Her level of observance is irrelevant.

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