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Subscribe to RSSA pair of adult identical twins in Belgium have been legally killed at their request, the men's doctor told journalists.
The 45-years-old men, who were born deaf, spent their lives side-by-side — growing up together and then, as adults, sharing an apartment and working as cobblers together, according to Belgian media reports.
The men’s names have not been released but photographs of the identical twins from the Antwerp region have been made available to some media outlets.
Their doctor, David Dufour, told Belgium’s RTL Television over the weekend that the two men had been losing their eyesight for several years and soon would have been completely blind. The prospect of being blind as well as deaf was unbearable to them, he said.
"They were fully aware of their decision," Dufour said.
After winning approval from the necessary authorities, the two men received lethal injections at a Belgian hospital in December.
Dufour described their last moments: "They had a last cup of coffee and everything was fine. They said goodbye to their parents and brother and all was serene. They waved — and that was that."
Under a 2002 law, Belgians are allowed to end their own lives if a doctor judges an individual has made his or her wishes clear and is suffering unbearable pain.
The case of the twins was unusual because the two men were not approaching the end of their natural lives nor were they terminally ill.
But Jacqueline Herremans, a member of the Belgian Commission of Euthanasia, told RTL that they did meet the legal requirements as their suffering was grave and incurable. When they became blind as well as deaf, he said, they would not have been able to lead autonomous lives, and that with only a sense of touch they had no prospects of a future.
She acknowledged this was an exceptional case.
"Evidently they had a particular destiny. They were two human beings who have lived together, grown up together, worked together and wanted to die together. Their suffering may not have been physical, but there was psychological suffering," she said.
In 2010 and 2011, a total of 2,086 people died by euthanasia in Belgium, according to the country’s Euthanasia Commission.
Belgium is now looking at introducing a legal amendment that would allow children and those with dementia the option of seeking permission to die. If passed later this year, the option of euthanasia will be extended to minors affected by an incurable illness, or suffering that cannot be alleviated.
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Netherlands dispatches mobile euthanasia units
Dutch riled at Santorum's euthanasia comments
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We did not gain humanity from these actions but ,in stead,everyone lost a little of their hunmanity because of these actions.May God bless their souls!
And who are you to judge the decisions of these two gentlemen unless you walk in their shoes?
I'm not judging them,i'm passing judgement on humanity and the devolution of our lives made with choices like these, being made available!
So, you have no belief in, or respect for, personal autonomy?
When is the US going to become that civilized?
Backdoor, Become civilized by willfully killing fellow citizens? Are you drunk?
Why don't you volunteer to go first,backtobasics?That would be the best choice for mankind!
Wondered how long it would be before the ad hominem, personal attacks showed up from the religious right. Didn't take long.
Yes, DM, I did honor her wishes. She had a stroke and I refused to let her living will be overturned. The doctors wanted to keep her in the hospital and feed her with a tube. As the person with her health care POA I did not allow this. She was returned to the Alzheimers facility and died a week later. Yes, that was painful, but it was what SHE wanted.
Celia - the fact that you honored her wishes and followed thru says so much about her and how she raised you. I believe she had to have been very proud of you.
Celia. It brought a tear to my eye. I'm sure it was so very difficult to do but as Holly mentioned I bet your mother would have loved you even more for respecting her last wishes to the fullest of your ability. May she rest in peace. I watched my grandfather slowly deteriorate from Alzheimers over the course of 8 years when he started misplacing his razor all the way to "forgetting" how to breathe. To this day I can see the suffering in his eyes and the frustration he went through. I see my mother getting older and hope I don't have to face it again but almost weekly we get into discussions asking her to put her wishes in writing. I think she is scared to do so. I have 4 siblings and I worry if only one contests her wishes what we may face. It is so very difficult but I hope when these times arise in our future that we are able to respect her and let go with dignity and allow good memories to move us along. You are truly a class act. :)
"The right to die with dignity" is beyond-needed in the States. And for all the obvious reasons that aren't necessary to mention here.
I liken this to cancelling a television sitcom in it's prime. Cancelling the show while it's still high in the ratings. Cancelling it before it succumbs to "Cousin Oliver Syndrome" and other, various jump-the-shark maladies. Cancelling the show while everyone still remembers that it as a good show. Cancelling the show before its production company realizes it's just spending a lot of money on it for nothing.
"Exiting stage left," or "leaving the tv show of life," with dignity, love and compassion. <3
Good for them. They were able to follow out their wishes.
My wish would be to have you put down,Derek! Would that bo ok?
Mas, get a grip. You aren't making your religious argument look any too appealing or credible with your attacks and juvenile behavior.
These two men were not "put down". They made a conscious and rational decision to request physiciam assisted suicide. Which should be the right, under many circumstances, for any individual in any civilized nation.
mas098...what are you going to do with that wonderful looking dog if he/she gets to the point of no quality of life? You're probably going to respect it as a living being and say, our dog shouldn't just be kept alive, it's not fair to the dog.
Don't you think people should have the same choice for their own life?
If in fact your disagreement to it is a religious one, realize that your God gave man free-will and that it's not your's to judge, only your God is to judge...or so you are to believe.
I only have one eye, my hearing is slowly going and I just can't imagine what it would be like without both. But by the gods, I would freaking survive it, even if it killed me. Deaf, dumb, blind or stupid, I have too much to live for, to off myself because of no sight or hearing. My grandpa was blind as a bat, but he touched my head when I was a baby and my mom said that was one of the happiest days of his life. He even told her what color my hair was. As long as you have even one thing connecting you to this world, life is worth living. Only my opinion folks, but I guess mine counts just as much as anyone's.
And you are certainly entitled to that opinion. That is what autonomy in decisions regarding life and death are all about. Each individual gets to choose for themselves.
i love you lacy. it seems as though we are showing our fear of life . and how powerless we are . your awesome and your post shows it.
There have been too many examples of people who had to struggle in life because of physical depletions that left them less than human who went on,by living,to change the lifes of millions.The one that comes to mind is the kid who was the star of "gravity is my enemy".Became a great artist using nothing but his lips and a paint brush.His story was unreal or surreal,if you really think about it.Wasn't Edison deaf? What a tragedy that would have been to lose his knowledge because of rase or irrational thinking at that time.This sounds like the begining of another round with eugenics,a program espoused by Hitler and his ilk(Woodrow Wilson,F.S. Fitzgerald,Lenin) in the 1930's and 1940's.
This has virtually nothing to do with eugenics. The individual is making an informed decision regarding themselves, not having someone else make that decision for them.
Suicide is man's way of telling God, "You can't fire me, I quit!" - Bill Maher
I love that there is humor even in suicide.
Thank God they were'nt killed with "assault" rifles. Oh, that would make them much more dead.
End of life decisions should be left to the descrection of the family...
Anyone married or living with a significant partner should consider a 'living will'. Knowing the desires of a loved one in a crisis can spare a lot of heartache and grief.
Just saying.
Wow! And I thought I was having a tough day. Count your blessings I guess is the message to take from this story.
What would the super intelligent Ms Sarah Palin and her tea baggers have to say about this absolutely sensible law of individual freedom? (death panel or communism or .............)
I would just drink myself to death like in Leaving Las Vegas.
Blech! I saw that movie. Seemed like a rather messy way to go. But, to each their own...
Really bad mood today, let's have the shot.
The 'doctors' who participated in the atrocity are murderers.
And the "Doctors" who prolonged the suffering are COMPASSIONATE?
They ought to be shot.
Actually, no. The doctors who participated are not murderers.
Don't know anything about the restrictions on PAS, do you?
Remind me of how humane this is when people start getting euthanized at "Guardians' Request," especially when the guardian is the State and the proof that they aare mentally incompetent is that they make trouble for the state.
Perhaps you should inform yourself of the restrictions regarding PAS prior to making such an absurd statement.
PAS????????????
Physician Assisted Suicide.
To tell a sane person that they have to live through suffering that they don't want to bear is cruelty.
100% more compasionte and civilized than the USA
One of the important things that Helen Keller & this situation do NOT have in common is that Helen Keller was not conjoined with a twin.
These twins were not conjoined.
At 45 these guys have no wives or children.
No prospects at a social life or ever getting laid.(unless molested by healthcare workers.
They probably have other health issues. Ex. High blood pressure, bad backs, arthritis.
They became a burden on their elderly parents.
They still had to pay the bills.
They got tired of fighting to make it.
Death Panels?
Socialized Gov Health Care.
Hitler started this way.
Health care was their first taste of blood.
Kill the cripples.
Kill the retards.
Kill the bankers.
At least it is still voluntary.
Actually Hitler did not start this way. But I am not surprised at the fallacious comparisons between death with dignity as an autonomous choice and euthanasia and genocide. People seriously need to inform themselves on the issue.
Yep ... death panels. Birth certificates! Obama's a Kenyan socialist communist Nazi!
You can stop, now. Election's over and I'm sure Faux News has a whole new flavor of bull to sell you.
Walk into a pitch black room, with some headphones playing white noise. Have anything touch you randomly a few times. You'll last 10 minutes before you go completely insane.
I understand the decision they made.
Me too. They fought long enough.
I sympathize with those 2 individuals' decision to get euthanized. My living will directs that my healthcare providers allow my body to expire should injury or illness make me permanently unable to care for myself. For me, an acceptable quality of life requires being able to live independently. My father does not share my view and chooses to finish out his final years as an infant in an elderly man's body. That is his choice. For me, civilized euthanasia is far more acceptable than surviving, effectively, as a totally dependent infant at my end of life.
Well I am moving to Belgium, become a citizen so I can have that right to choose. The complications from diabetes is no fun and causes unbearable suffering. I know you can do this in Washington State, but you are just given a prescription for some pills and the doctors are not allowed to give you the dose, you must do it. I think Americans should have this right to choose.
I respect their decision.
STEP 1: Government approved, voluntary euthanasia.
STEP 2: Government mandated, involuntary, mandatory euthanasia (holocaust).
STEP 3: The rise and global domination of the Fourth Reich.
____________________________________________________
Thank you Belgium for initiating STEP ONE. It is only a matter of watching the clock now.
The Netherlands have had legal euthanasia for more than a decade now, too.
That has not happened in any of the countries with PAS laws. Nor will it ever, given the restrictions that are placed on any PAS act.
STEP 4: Place tin foil hat on head to prevent the government from controlling your brain.
NUMBER ONE: I am not suggesting that step 3 is necessarily reached in a short amount of time...perhaps a generation or two...perhaps less.
NUMBER TWO: I am certainly NOT suggesting that a Fourth Reich will come out of the Netherlands.