In Belgium, identical twin brothers who were born deaf, had become blind & were unable to bear not being able to communicate freely with each other, had their wish to die granted by a Court in Brussels. Doctors gave the 45-year-old twins lethal injections after they had had a cup of coffee together & said goodbye to each other, a spokesman at the UZ hospital in Brussels, said yesterday.
“It’s not just because they were deaf & blind that they were granted the right to euthanasia. It is that they could not bear being unable to hear or see the other,” he said.
To be granted legal assisted euthanasia in Belgium a patient must be an adult, capable of making a judgment, & the wish to die must be voluntary, overwhelming & repeated. The patient must also be suffering persistent & unbearable mental or physical pain beyond medical help.
In addition, the condition must be serious, incurable & have been brought on by illness or injury.
“Unbearable suffering can be mental as well as physical,” the hospital spokesman said. “The brothers were inseparable. They lived together & shared the same job.”
He said the brothers died on 14th December & that their family had supported their wish to die.
Belgium legalized euthanasia ten years ago & the number of legal assisted deaths has risen every year. In 2011, 1,133 people were granted the right to die, of whom over 86% were 60 years old or more; 72% of the total number were suffering from cancer.
The Netherlands & Luxembourg have both decriminalized euthanasia, but apart from Belgium only Switzerland allows assisted suicide, & then only if the person concerned takes an active role.
Every part of this story is sad, except perhaps for the twins who are no longer suffering.
ThursdayAgain 
You must be logged in to post a comment.