Belgian Para-Athlete At Peace with Euthanasia Decision

(ATR) Marieke Vervoort is going out on her own terms.

Vervoort, a Belgian T52 competitor in athletics, suffers from a degenerative spinal disease. She started her sports career in jujitsu, then para-triathlon, and finally athletics. Each time she switched sports it was because her disease forced her to. She says the Rio 2016 Paralympics will be her last.

In 2008 Vervoort received papers from the Belgian government allowing her to be euthanized when she chooses. She says that "when I have more bad days than good days," she will consider ending her life, but does not know when that day will come.

To secure her papers Vervoort says she needed to secure signatures from three different doctors, who say her condition is irreversible. In addition, she needed to speak to a psychiatrist to ensure she was "of sound mind," to make this decision. Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2002, and is one of four countries which allow it worldwide.

Vervoort won the silver medal in the T52 400m; a feat she feels could be her final Paralympic medal. She will compete in the 100m on Sept. 17, her final race ever. Speaking in a press conference Vervoort told reporters she "will cry very hard [after], because it is the last time I’ll ever be in [my] racing chair."

When the day comes to end her life, Vervoort says she has made peace with the decision. She has written letters to her friends and family and hopes to set up a museum in her name. Vervoort says that all of her family and friends support her in her decision, and that none of them tried to stop her decision to seek her papers.

"I don’t want to suffer when I am dying; I want to go in a peaceful way," Vervoort said. "Euthanasia does not mean murder; it means rest in your head."

The nature of Vervoort’s disease makes competing incredibly difficult. She says she has both good days and bad days, and they are unpredictable. The disease began affecting her at the age of 14 and with her condition steadily worsening. Sometimes she is only capable of sleeping only 10 minutes a night, while other days she can follow a regular schedule. The Belgian winters are difficult on her body, so she relocates to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands for a milder climate.

Vervoort says she hopes to use her post-athletic career to travel around the world as an inspirational speaker. She says she wants to be an advocate for euthanasia and hopes to change people’s minds about the practice.

"[Euthanasia] is a good thing; you can see in 2008 I signed those papers and I’m still here because of those papers," Vervoort said. "I think other people who don’t have those papers they are sitting in the corner doing nothing, suffering and only complaining because they can’t live in their minds with a disease where they can’t do anything anymore.

"So I hope that my story will make a discussion of thing, and I hope that everybody sees this is not murder, but makes people lives longer when it is possible."

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

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