When one has nothing to lose, one becomes courageous. We are timid only when there is something we can cling to.

She has to push the disease away with her left hand. She must push her arm out in front of her with her hand clenched as if it were Holding a knob. She must push on and on as she says out, out, out…since she has nothing else to do, she must dedicate every second of her remaining life to performing that movement. (Ring, 106)