After a lifetime together, they chose to share even their last moments. Jan and Els, a Dutch couple in their seventies who had been married for almost 50 years, decided to resort to euthanasia as a couple. The two died in early June after doctors administered a lethal drug. Both were suffering from diseases that caused profound physical and psychological suffering and with no prospect of improvement.
Couple euthanasia is rare, but legal in the Netherlands, where more and more cases occur every year. In the country it is possible to resort to assisted suicide if one’s physical or psychological suffering is assessed by doctors as “unbearable” and without the possibility of improvement.
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Jan and Els: a lifelong love story
The news of the couple’s death was picked up by the BBC, which told their story. Jan and Els met in kindergarten, and then got engaged and married. Their love was based on a deep understanding and a shared love of the outdoors and an unconventional lifestyle: they lived together on a boat in the Dutch canals. She was a teacher and he was an athletic trainer. Together they had a son.
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The “unbearable” pain and the choice of euthanasia: “With too many medicines I’m a zombie”
The suffering began in the early 2000s, when Jan began experiencing severe back pain. After the surgery in 2003 and the long recovery time she had to leave her job while she Els continued to work as a teacher. But things didn’t improve: Jan’s back pain became chronic, and she confined him to a wheelchair. A condition that caused him great psychological suffering. She retired from teaching in 2018 and received a diagnosis of senile dementia in 2022.
When Els learned that her condition would not improve, together with her husband and son they started talking about couple euthanasia, which they resorted to at the beginning of June.
“With too many medicines I feel like a zombie” Jan had said shortly before his death to the BBC correspondent who had met them.
Euthanasia in the Netherlands is the cause of 5% of deaths. In total, 33 cases of couple euthanasia have been recorded.
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