Marieke Vervoort, The Athlete Who Planned Her Euthanasia

After diagnosing her with her illness, doctors recommended Marieke Vervoort to stay active. She has found a reason to move forward in sport. With that obtained in Rio, it now has three Paralympic medals.

Marieke Vervoort is a fighter. This 37-year-old Belgian athlete has planned her euthanasia, or assisted suicide, in 2016.

Even though she didn’t want to do it immediately, she knew that one day she couldn’t take the pain anymore. This gesture allows him to keep control over his own death.

We all know that we cannot control everything that happens in our existence: illnesses, accidents, unexpected events, etc. These are blows that strike us, that change us and that put us to the test.

We can’t choose what life has in store for us, but we can decide how we’re going to die.

Marieke Vervoort has reopened the euthanasia debate with a bang as a rumor circulated that she would end her life right after the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

But nothing is less certain. It is not yet his time. Marieke’s words of courage, wisdom and sensitivity impressed everyone.

Whether or not we agree with euthanasia, the only thing this woman deserves is our deep respect and admiration.

In the rest of this article, we’ll tell you its story.

Marieke Vervoort’s last race

Marieke Vervoort is enjoying life to the fullest. Each new day, each image, each sound is a breath of fresh air.

• She practices athletics, sand yachting, and before her illness reduced her mobility, she was a triathlete. We should point out that in addition to her silver medal obtained at the Rio Games in 2016, she has other titles in her trophy cabinet.
• She competed at the London Paralympic Games in 2012, earning a gold and a silver.
• She won all the competitions in her country. Her most prestigious title, according to her, is the one bestowed on her by the Flemish Association of Sports Journalists, which recognized her efforts, her character and the role model she represents to others.

However, Marieke Vervoort assured that she had run well in her last race at the Paralympic Games in Rio.

His degenerative disease

Marieke suffers from a degenerative muscle disease that stuck her in a wheelchair at an early age.

Her problem is not so much her disability, but rather the physical suffering she feels on a daily basis.

• She has been fighting this pathology daily for more than 20 years, and her body is responding less and less to its commands.
• She suffers from dizziness, epileptic seizures, severe pain and gradually loses her sight. She only has 20% of her original sight. In a few months, if not a few years, it will be completely plunged into darkness.
• His life is just the story of a growing disability. A slow but inexorable disconnection from his body that will gradually take his life.

Euthanasia

Marieke has known for a long time what will happen to her. After being diagnosed, she immediately thought about suicide, as she was able to relate to the press.

However, something happened that gave him hope.

• Her doctors recommended that she play sports to improve her quality of life. Sport is all about struggle and survival, which suited Marieke’s personality perfectly. She had therefore found a motivation to move forward.
• She started by playing handibasket. She later tried diving and swimming, but it was in triathlon that she managed to find herself. It was this sport that brought him his first medals and the beginning of a recognition that would only grow.
• In 2006, she became the world para-triathlon champion, a title she managed to retain the following year.

However, in 2008 her illness worsened to such an extent that she had to give up triathlon. It was another blow in Marieke’s life. However, her story was of great interest to her country, and she was invited to numerous television sets to tell it.

Marieke Vervoort bowed to the media exercise. She has also published a book “ Wielemie, sport for life ”. But it was also at this time that she prepared another stage in her life. She signed the papers necessary for her planned suicide.

Her body could no longer allow her to practice her favorite discipline, and she knew at that precise moment that she would not be able to see in a few years.

Its time has not come, but it will come

After leaving triathlon aside, Marieke took up sand yachting, a sport in which vehicles move quickly thanks to the action of the wind. She became vice-world champion in the discipline in 2011.

She then embarked on another discipline: athletics. After being accepted into the T-52 Paralympic category, she literally smashed all European records.

• Her success at the London Paralympic Games in 2012 was a great moment of happiness for her. She had a reason to live again, to endure this pain which did not leave her alone on a daily basis.
• Today, she can only sleep in phases of 10 minutes, the pains she feels are so powerful.
• His seizures are also getting worse. She knows her body is in decline, but she still tries to keep enjoying life.

His choice of euthanasia

When she can no longer see, when her body will be nothing but immense suffering and her paralysis will be total, she will bid farewell to this world with dignity. Euthanasia is not surrender. It is the rest of the righteous.

She has already chosen the context of her funeral. His ashes will be scattered in the sea in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands in Spain.

She wants her people to remember her as a smile, because it’s the last thing she wants to leave before resting in peace. Without ever suffering again.