A 26-year-old woman from Vancouver Island is pursuing assisted suicide because of an “unbearable pain that can’t be treated.”
Lana, who decided to withhold her last name to protect her family’s privacy, opted to share her story before she’s gone as a lesson to those who may be in a similar situation.
“Maybe there are two or three people in B.C. who have something I do or experience the world like me, and they can see this and think maybe they’re not alone,” she told CityNews.
The majority of people in Canada who pursue assisted suicide are because of cancer. 63% of recipients in 2022 had cancer as a main underlying medical condition, followed by 18.8% that had cardiovascular conditions. Additionally, 14.9% of the individuals listed other conditions, such as chronic pain, osteoarthritis, frailty, fibromyalgia, and autoimmune conditions.
Lana said that the years of pain reached its peak last fall, with no treatment available.
“I really encourage everyone to not take their health for granted. This started when I was 19, and it’s progressed. There have been beautiful moments in that time, but I lost a lot of my life to illness,” said Lana.
“I felt so lonely for some years with all these symptoms and this progressive dysfunction that no one could address, no one could answer.”
Lana said she clearly remembers the day that she decided on assisted suicide.
“…And from that point just… this is what needs to happen. This isn’t a decision. I can’t take this. It’s unbearable. It’s just gotten worse and worse and worse, and it needs to happen.”
Assisted suicide’s eligibility criteria require that people seeking MAID be diagnosed with a “grievous and irremediable medical condition.”
The Liberals recently tabled legislation delaying the expansion of MAID to people with mental illness until 2027.
True North previously reported that in 2022, 3.5% of recipients (463 people) were granted assisted suicide despite not having a reasonably naturally foreseeable death. This is an increase from 2.2% (223 people) granted it for this circumstance in 2021. The total number of deaths grew 31.2% between 2021 and 2022.
The required 90-day waiting period for individuals with non-terminal illnesses ended for Lana at the beginning of February. She has agreed not to proceed until her 27th birthday at the end of the month at the request of her family.
“I am unbelievably grateful I have this option because there’s one other outcome if MAID weren’t available to me, and that’s for me to take this into my own hands and do this alone, said Lana.
“I never got to go to university, and I would happily keep kicking if I could. Ultimately, if you have unbearable pain that can’t be treated, where do you end up? Here. And I’m at peace with that.”
Jordan Peterson had similar experiences with an unbearable autoimmune disease, leading him to seek medical assistance in Russia and eat a carnivore diet consisting of only meat, salt, and water, which his daughter developed.
Peterson commented on Lana’s story on X.
“Think how much more money there would be if all these pesky sick people went elsewhere! Or died! Or… were killed,” he said.
