“It’s very easy to judge from the outside” | Relief

While Almodóvar’s latest film is showing in cinemas, Next roomdedicated to euthanasia, today marks five years since four-time medalist, Marieke Vervoort committed suicide because the practice is legal in Belgium.. A case that shocked the Paralympic world, but undoubtedly helped make death visible.

A few weeks before Rio 2016, Vervoort (Diest, 1979) announced that he had received the green light for euthanasia in 2008. a safe passage in case he could no longer bear the effects of the progressive tetraplegia from which he had suffered since the age of 14 and which was worsening every day. And she did this two years after becoming a world champion in triathlon and realizing that she would not be able to participate in the difficult and famous Ironman in Hawaii for the second year in a row.

“I don’t consider it murder, rather it gives me peace. I don’t want to live like a plant, and since I have documents from 2008, I know that when it hurts too much, I will be able to say enough is enough, now I want to die. These papers gave me peace and allowed me to live again,” he said then in an interview in Country.

With this calmness he met his best athletic years. In 2012, she changed from triathlon to athletics and became the champion of the London Games. at a distance of 100 meters (category T52, wheelchair athletics with limited movement of the legs and torso). In addition, he climbed to the second step of the podium at a distance of 400 meters.

In 2015, he won world titles in the 100, 200 and 400 meters, and a year later in Rio 2016Shortly after announcing that he would resort to euthanasia as his condition worsened, he won silver in the 400m and bronze in the 100m. At the press conference, she became the greatest standard-bearer for the movement defending the right to die with dignity. with a message that went around the world.

“Yes, this is my last Games, I have a progressive disease and I signed the documents for euthanasia in 2008 because it is very difficult to cope with this disease and suffer from it. I hope that all countries understand that euthanasia is not murder, but rather it gives people a sense of peace. If I didn’t have these documents, I would have already committed suicide, because it’s very hard to live with such pain, I suffer from insecurity, and every year it becomes more and more, and therefore I am grateful for these roles, I am still alive and continue to enjoy every moment of my life. I have poor eyesight I only see 20%, I have a lot of epileptic seizures. What’s next? I’m afraid, But these papers give me peace of mind because I know that when I have enough, I will have them.”

At those Games, nothing else was talked about either in the media or in the Paralympic Village.where swimmer Teresa Perales was: “When I saw this in the media, my hair stood on end and my heart sank, honestly. The next goal is to die with dignity.” This situation is difficult for any of us to understand. Do you know how painful it can be to make a decision that has no way back? Ugh!”. Spain’s greatest Paralympic medalist still gets goosebumps from those memories. “This caused me an internal dilemma, a moral dilemma. I’m in pain every day and it’s hard, sometimes very, very, very hard, and I’ve never thought about something like this. But it’s also true that if I saw myself in your situation… I don’t know.”

It was the first Paralympic Games for Luis Munilla, a journalist from COPE. “I was interested in this topic from the first moment. I made it a goal to talk to her, at least minimally. “I followed her for days, everyone was on top of her and it was difficult, but after one of her medals I was able to get close and it was extremely exciting.”

Athletes, journalists and the public supported the Belgian at the Brazilian event. “It was very exciting to see him win medals. everyone paid attention to her, the stands greeted her…,” the journalist recalls.

Some Belgian media speculated that Velemi, as they called her, would leave this world after the Rio Games. She had already defended her arguments: she was paralyzed from the chest down, she had very poor vision, and she lived with inhuman pain.

“People see me laughing, they see the good side of me, competing and winning and doing well, but they don’t see me when I’m in pain because I’m sitting at home enduring that pain. Do you know any other athletes who reach the top using morphine and valium injections?“, he commented in an interview with the publication ElPais.

This contrast between the joy some athletes show during competition and the pain they hide when they don’t is also commented on by Teresa Perales. “It’s very easy to judge from the outside, but you need to put yourself in everyone’s shoes. He taught us a lesson worth noting, that appearances can be deceiving, for better or for worse. You see me here and think, “Wow, you look phenomenal.” Yes, but what I wear inside, I wear inside and wear for myself.”

Munilla, who has three Paralympics under his belt, recalls that conversation in Rio, which he immortalized in a photograph: “What caught my attention was determination, calm, serenity and conviction. with whom he talked about what he wanted. “She absolutely had her plan in place, when she couldn’t take it anymore, she wanted to stop living, she said it very clearly and said it in a way, smiling all the time, that touched me.”

Despite rumors, the triathlete did not say goodbye until 2019. Before that, after Rio 2016, she left sports, which was the best medicine for her, but it no longer helped her. Actually, His latest Paralympic medals came after hours of treatment hours earlier.. It’s time to focus on your family and friends and achieve your dreams. Travels in dreams, book(Marieke Vervoort, the other side of the coin), skydiving, bungee jumping, documentary (MArieke: Addiction to Life)… At the moment closest to death, he squeezed life to the maximum. His latest whim was to drive around the Zolder circuit in a Lamborghini Huracan Evolution. “I managed to fulfill many dreams. This is the last one”– he said.

On October 22, 2019, Marieke Wenworth created an incredible life.. A life full of pain and glory, which she herself managed until her last breath. He was 40 years old. His city held a funeral in his honor with 250 people in attendance, live music and speeches celebrating life. He asked that his ashes be scattered on Lanzarote, his favorite island.

“When he passed away, it hit me hard in the heart. and I remembered the day when I was face to face with her, but deep down I smiled remembering it,” Munilla admits.

Marieke’s way of accepting death This helped combat the prejudices that exist about such a controversial topic as a good (“eu”) death (“thanos”). This is his legacy, a legacy greater than the four Paralympic medals and four world records he achieved during his illustrious sporting career.

In Belgium, since 2002, euthanasia has been permitted for people with a prognosis of irreversible disease. At the time of Marieke’s Law, only five countries allowed the practice, which ends suffering.. In Spain, a hard-fought euthanasia law became a reality in 2021. Examples like Vervoort’s have helped people suffering the same suffering as them to say goodbye peacefully after living the best years of their lives.