DaytonDailyNews.com

INDIANAPOLIS — A morphine drip kept Ethan Biggers comfortable as a steady stream of relatives and friends came to his hospital room to say goodbye — including two men he served with in Iraq who brought him his Purple Heart.

The Army specialist's service to his country has come to an end.

In recent days, the walls of his fourth-floor room at the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center had become a memorial to the life of the 22-year-old Beavercreek soldier. He died early Saturday morning after spending nearly a year in a coma after he was shot in the head during his second tour of duty in Iraq.

His family filled the room with large photos of special moments and people in Ethan's life in case he woke up.

But as the family approached the March 5 anniversary of his injury, they realized that wasn't going to happen.

Because Ethan never filled out a living will, they struggled with one of the most difficult questions imaginable: What would Ethan want?

He had given his father, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base physicist Rand Biggers, power of attorney, enabling him to make decisions about his medical care. But Ethan outlived his father. Rand died in a traffic accident last July.

Before his death, Rand was clearly conflicted about the decision that awaited.

"I won't leave him in a vegetative state," he said. "I want to give him and God enough time."

It was Matt, the twin brother who joined the Army with Ethan and held his hand during the nine-hour flight home from Germany after he was wounded, who finally decided that it was time to let his brother go.

Ethan's older sister, Liza, prayed for a sign they were making the right decision.

What would Ethan want?

As Ethan's health took a turn for the worse and his fever spiked to 104 degrees, she had her answer. Matt had Ethan's feeding tube removed on Feb. 13.

The Biggers family has struggled to make sense of a year marked by the birth in June of a son Ethan will never know, and the death of the father he idolized.

They've struggled with the awesome task of deciding how long to keep him alive.

"Now I think it gives us some peace with Ethan," Liza said last week. "We feel like my dad's there waiting."

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Photos for this article
	Photos throughout the life of Army Spc. Ethan Biggers who was in coma for nearly a year after being shot in the head by a sniper south of Baghdad on March 5. He passed away Feb. 24.