A former truck driver who was paralyzed after an accident in Italy has become the first person allowed to commit suicide with assistance. He said his loss of independence left him like a “stray ship in the ocean”. A 44-year-old man died from medical-assisted suicide in Italy on Thursday, 16/06, the first of its kind in the country.
While helping someone commit suicide is technically against the law in Italy, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled in 2019 that there could be some exceptions, albeit under strict conditions.
The man, posthumously named Federico Carboni, died after taking a lethal cocktail of drugs on his own from a special machine. His family and friends were with him when he died.
Carboni’s death was announced by Associação Luca Coscioni, a euthanasia support group that helps him defend his case before the courts and health authorities.
He was a truck driver and was paralyzed from the neck down after a car accident ten years ago.
According to the Luca Coscioni Society, before he died, he said, “I don’t deny that I regretted saying goodbye to life.” “I did everything I could to live my best life and tried to make the most of it despite my disability, but now I’m at my limit both mentally and physically,” Carboni said.
As a quadriplegic, she said she needed round-the-clock care, which made her dependent on support all the time and lost her independence, which made her feel like a “boat in the ocean”. “Now I’m finally free to fly wherever I want,” she said.
long legal battle
In 2019, the Italian Constitutional Court allowed assisted suicide in some cases. The issue faced fierce opposition from the Catholic Church and conservative parties.
The court listed some of the conditions that must be met in order to apply for assisted suicide. For example, it must be clear that a patient cannot be cured, is dependent on life-sustaining tools, and is suffering “unbearable” physical and mental pain.
A patient should also have full competence to make their own decisions and understand their consequences.
Carboni received clearance from an ethics committee last November after health officials appealed her initial denial and took her case to court. He was the first in the country to receive such legal approval.
He then had to collect 5,000 Euros (R$27,000) to cover the costs of the medicine and special equipment needed to end his life. The Luca Coscioni Association has launched a crowdfunding initiative to raise money for this.
In the statement made by the association, it was said, “We will continue to fight so that similar obstructions and violations against the will of the patients are not repeated.”
Assisted suicide has been allowed in Switzerland for decades. The app is also legal in some other countries, including the Netherlands, Austria, and Spain.
bl (AP, AFP, dpa)
source: Noticias
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