Gold medallist paralympian from Belgium seeks euthanasia

The end-of-life wishes of a gold medallist at the Paralympics have again raised the question of what makes a Belgian eligible for euthanasia.

Marieke Vervoort won a silver in the 200 metre wheelchair sprint and a gold in the 100 metre event. But she has told the media that she may request euthanasia after competing at Rio. “Rio is my last wish, hopefully I can finish my career on the podium,” Vervoort said in an interview with Le Parisien. “I have a bucket list, including stunt flying, and I have started to think about euthanasia.”

Ms Vervoort has a degenerative disease which causes her great pain, but she can still compete at a high level in a range of sports, including basketball, swimming and triathalons.

“When I sit in my racing chair, everything disappears,” she told Le Parisien. “I expell all the dark thoughts; I fight off fear, sadness, suffering, frustration. That’s how I won the gold medals.”

But after Rio she says that she will have nothing to live for. “”Everybody sees me laugh with my gold medal, but no one sees the dark side,” she says. “Sport is my only reason for living.”

She suffers from intense pain at night and has severely impaired vision. She first investigated euthanasia as long ago as 2008. When she takes the final step, she says, “I want everybody to have a glass of champagne in their hand and a happy thought for me.”

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