Married Dutch couple, 70 and 71, who spent their lives together after meeting in pre-school are killed by lethal injection in double-euthanasia
After more than a decade of heavy lifting and hands-on work, Jans' back pain became serious, and the couple moved back on land into a caravan.
Surgery in 2003 did little to alleviate his pain and he was forced to stop working.
While Els was still working as a teacher, Jans' physical limitations and the lower quality of life they resulted in encouraged the couple to start thinking about assisted dying, and they joined NVVE - Netherlands' 'right to die' organisation.
Els retired in 2018, and was beginning to show early signs of dementia, a disease her father had suffered with and died from.
The couple's GP - like many doctors in the Netherlands - was uncomfortable with accepting their case for euthanasia due to Els' dementia.
She was officially diagnosed in November 2022, and it progressively got worse to the point where she struggled to construct sentences.
The couple's GP - like many doctors in the Netherlands - was uncomfortable with accepting their case for euthanasia due to Els' dementia, which can create uncertainty around a patient's capacity to give consent.
The couple turned to the Centre of Expertise on Euthanasia, which gives advice on assisted dying and has a mobile clinic which carries out procedures in patients' homes. On average, it grants about a third of euthanasia requests it receives.
From: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...illed-lethal-injection-double-euthanasia.html
