A Canadian veteran has lambasted the government for offering to euthanise her after she grew irritated by delays in having a wheelchair lift installed in her home.
Canadian Veteran And Paralympian Slams Government For Offering To Euthanise Her Instead Of Providing Her With A Chairlift-‘It Was Really Shocking To Hear’
Former Paralympian and Corporal Christine Gauthier testified that a Veterans Affairs Canada case worker had made the offer of assisted suicide. A case worker allegedly told Gauthier after years of frustrating delays in getting her home lift that if she was ‘really that desperate, we could give you medical assistance in dying immediately.’
The worker hasn’t been named, but Global News reported that the same ‘solution’ was offered to three other veterans. According to Gauthier, she has been seeking a chairlift for her house since 2017. The caseworker allegedly offered to help her commit suicide in a conversation in 2019, which shocked her.
In her comments, Christine said: “I was like, ‘I can’t believe that you will … give me an injection to help me die, but you will not give me the tools I need to help me live. It was really shocking to hear that kind of comment.”
This is shocking to say the least, especially in light of Christine’s background. In 1989, Gauthier was severely injured in an army exercise, resulting in permanent damage to her knees and spine. She has since then participated in the 2016 Paralympics and the Invictus Games in the same year.
With that being said, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has vowed to make changes moving forward. His following comments confirmed as much: “I have said repeatedly that this is absolutely unacceptable, and as soon as we heard about this we took action.
“We are following up with investigations and we are changing protocols.” This is an issue that needs to be resolved, so things like this do not happen again at the expense of patient welfare. And that is the most important thing to remember moving forward.
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