Time to die: SA woman to be euthanised in mercy killing in Switzerland

A 63-year-old South African woman is expected to be euthanised in a mercy killing on Wednesday.

Carol de Swardt travelled to Switzerland on Sunday where she has the right to choose to be euthanised and when to die at an assisted suicide at Pegasos Clinic.

De Swardt’s will to live declined after her right leg was amputated and was confined to a wheelchair.

Pain

She said the life she used to love is a thing of the past. In fact, she’s in so much pain she hardly goes anywhere.

“I have peace in my heart. I really hope that my God is there on the other side. I do not think my God would refuse me my place in heaven. I have lost my will to live,” De Swardt told George Herald.

According to the publication, Carol has no doubts or regrets.

She is living in debilitating pain due to skin cancer that was diagnosed in 2010 and which has since spread. For eight years she fought a courageous legal battle and was ultimately successful in her bid to persuade the Kwazulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg in 2020 that she lost her leg due to medical negligence.

Death

The court found that after being diagnosed with squamous carcinoma, a common skin cancer, on both legs, Carol was given excessive doses of radiation at Greys Hospital in Pietermaritzburg. This resulted in “irreversible damage” to her lower limbs, according to You magazine.

It also ordered the Health Department to pay her more than R4 million in damages, some of which De Swardt is using to pay for her assisted death.

De Swardt said there is no reason for her to live anymore because she has no quality of life. Her son and daughter have accepted her decision.

“If I lived longer, I would want to do all the things I used to, that I loved, but I am disabled. All these things were taken from me − fishing, swimming and working in my garden,” she said.

De Swardt will be assisted by Professor Sean Davison, who oversees the Exit Swiss Assistance Programme.

The New Zealand-born South African scientist, is the founder and director of DignitySA that is lobbying for a change to end-of-life legislation in South Africa.