Physically healthy woman, 28, to end her life by euthanasia after being told her depression will ‘never get better’
5 April 2024, 10:29
A physically healthy woman has decided to her life by euthanasia after being told her depression will ‘never get better’.
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Zoraya ter Beek, 28, from Twente in the Netherlands, says she has tried everything she can to get better, including therapy and medication.
But a psychiatrist told her "there's nothing more" they could do to treat her condition.
"It's never gonna get any better," she says the doctor told her.
Zoraya is now scheduled to die in May. A drug and a sedative will be administered to stop her heart as she dies at home on her sofa.
She will leave behind her boyfriend, 40, and their two cats.
It has not been a long journey Zoraya, who had to wait two-and-a-half years for her request to be approved, following by a 12-month wait to make sure she had met all necessary requirements.
This followed ten years of treatments to try and ease her suffering.
"I don't see it as my soul leaving, but more as myself being freed from life," she said. "I'm a little afraid of dying, because it's the ultimate unknown.
"We don't really know what's next - or is there nothing? That's the scary part.
"I don't want to die, but I can't live," she told rtl nieuws.
Read More: British riding star Caroline March's final message before she died, aged 31, in assisted suicide
Zoraya also does not want a funeral, as she does not have much family, so will instead be scattered in "a nice spot in the woods" she has picked.
Euthanasia has been legal in the Netherlands since 2002. It is not currently legal in the UK, but there has been a debate in recent months about whether the law should change.
Sir Keir Starmer has said he is "personally committed" to changing the law on assisted dying if Labour win the next election.
Speaking on the phone with broadcasting legend Dame Esther Rantzen, who recently revealed she had signed up to Dignitas in Switzerland, Sir Keir said he was "personally in favour of changing the law".
'I want to go out with champagne and caviar' says Dame Esther Rantzen
Sir Keir also told Dame Esther on the call, recorded by ITV, that Labour "will make the commitment"."I think we need to make time...Esther, I can give you that commitment right now."
Dame Esther has been campaigning for the law to change after she was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.
It came weeks after Sir Keir told LBC's Nick Ferrari that he would support a change in the law if the conditions were right.
"I am an advocate to change the law," he told Nick in January."Obviously that change has to be very carefully crafted."
Nick also recently spoke to Dame Esther about how she would prepare for her final moments.
"What I would like, if we can get our laws straight and it doesn't put my family at risk, is I'd like to fly off to Zurich with my nearest and dearest, have a fantastic dinner the night before," she said.
Those feeling distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
