Special Envoy – Odette’s Choice

An exceptional document on a final life choice

Odette chose to end her life in a burst of laughter, surrounded by her loved ones. Envoyé spécial followed her during the last 5 days of her life. Happy and sweet moments, surprisingly joyful, shared with family. A report from Quebec in the intimacy of a life that ends peacefully.

In France, the debate on assisted dying has been on hold since the dissolution of the National Assembly. Its return to the political agenda is still uncertain, to the great dismay of many patients. A new bill has been tabled, supported by 220 deputies including the president Yaël Braun-Pivet, but the debate in the Assembly is constantly being postponed. 

When the Envoyé spécial team joins Odette in Montreal, this bubbly 64-year-old Quebecer has only a few days left to live. She has scheduled her death for the following Sunday. Odette has incurable lung cancer that condemns her.

For several months, she has been preparing her loved ones for this final goodbye and continues to comfort everyone on a daily basis. Leaving without pain thanks to the assistance of a doctor, in the company of her children and her family, on the day she decided to, is a well-considered choice, a chance, she says. She wants to die before the disease kills her, before the suffering and physical decline overwhelm her. She wants to die as she lived in joy and laughter.

Odette shared with us her precious testimony, right up to her last words, her life lesson, to fuel the debate on the end of life in France.

In her home province of Quebec, we don’t talk about euthanasia or assisted suicide. Medical assistance in dying is seen as care, by citizens and doctors alike. The doctor who accompanies her does it voluntarily. A few months before retirement, he even decided to do nothing else. He assessed Odette’s case and will perform the lethal injection, so that she goes away by falling asleep. Last year, medical assistance in dying represented more than 7% of deaths and the population is overwhelmingly in favor of it.

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