Healthy 29-year-old woman dies by euthanasia – and it was her own decision

Having battled mental illness over several years, 29-year-old Aurelia Brouwers was finally allowed to die in the comfort of her own home through euthanasia.

According to a report from Guardian, Brouwers passed away in peace clutching her favorite toy dinosaur and with a smile on her face. She was accompanied by family and friends as she took her final breath by drinking prescribed medication.

Only a few hours before her death, she took to Facebook to post her last message to her friends and well-wishers. She wrote, ‘I’m getting ready for my trip now.’

Brouwers was allowed to die by euthanasia last December after a long history of self-harm as well as attempted suicides.

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Her death was legalized by the 2002 Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide Act of Netherlands. If a person meets several criteria provided under the act, they may be allowed to end their own life.

The criteria include that a person receiving euthanasia must have a suffering that is unbearable with no hope of relief and that their request to die by euthanasia should be voluntary as well as persist over a longer period of time.

When she was allowed to die, Brouwers was overjoyed because she believed that she would finally be able to die with “dignity” after eight long years of suffering from mental illness.

People have come out in support of Brouwers decision claiming that her disease would have claimed her life anyway, but with euthanasia, at least, she died at her own terms and also managed to escape her “black hole.”

There have also been people who are critical of her choosing her own death. Many have expressed their disapproval questioning the ethics of it, as per a report from Mirror.

People against her decision argue that Brouwers was a young woman without any terminal illness. According to them, what she required were cure and recovery rather than death.

Brouwers battled issues such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, psychosis, and a rare form of epilepsy in days prior to her death. She even spent three years in a psychiatric hospital and server two years in prison for arson.

On her social media, she had termed her life and every breath she took as a ‘torture’ several times over.

Regarding the legalization of euthanasia, Theo Boer, a professor who supported the 2002 law stated that the availability of the procedure has sadly created more demand for it, as reported by Newsner.

The professor, who quit the regulatory body for euthanasia, claimed that such a scenario should not have happened. Psychiatric cases are difficult to understand and one can never truly know if the death wish is only a part of the illness.

He explained that it is tough to determine whether a person struggling with mental issues can be treated or not.