On Tuesday October 22, Paralympian Marieke Vervoort dies by voluntary euthanasia.
After the Rio Games in 2016, the athlete announced her intentions to follow the path of euthanasia if her degenerative condition further decreased her quality of life. “I’m still enjoying every little moment. When the moment comes, when I have more bad days than good days, then I have my euthanasia papers, but the time is not there yet,” she told a news conference during the 2016 Paralympic Games.
That day came last Tuesday in her native Belgium, in which euthanasia is legal. Vervoort, who died at 40, had lived with a degenerative muscle disease that caused constant pain, paralysis in her legs and left her barely able to sleep. She was just 14 when diagnosed, but Vervoort pursued a sporting life with passion — playing wheelchair basketball, swimming and racing in triathlons.
Read more on the website of ABC-news.