A woman’s final Facebook message before euthanasia: ‘I’m ready for my trip now...’

Assisted suicides in the Netherlands include a 29-year-old who had nothing wrong with her physically At 2pm on 26 January, Aurelia Brouwers lay down on her bed to die. Clutching a toy pink dinosaur and listening to her favourite music, the 29-year-old drank her prescribed medication as close friends gathered round. “She asked me to lie next to her. She had a smile on her face, and then she went softly into sleep,” Sjoukje Willering told the Observer. “It was very serene and calm. It was beautiful.” Four hours earlier, Brouwers had posted her last message on Facebook. “I’m getting ready for my trip now. Thank you so much for everything. I’m no longer available from now on.” Brouwers died at home in the small Netherlands town of Deventer less than a month after being declared eligible for euthanasia under the country’s 2002 Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide Act, which permits the ending of lives where there is “unbearable suffering” without hope of relief. Her death has triggered a fierce debate in a country that has one of the most permissive euthanasia laws in the world. Continue reading... source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/17/assisted-dying-euthanasia-netherlands #Headlines by: Harriet Sherwood

Original Post: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/17/assisted-dying-euthanasia-netherlands