An 83-year-old Canadian grandmother who was allegedly euthanized against her will died in a bloody scene, her hands reportedly clasped in prayer, following what her family described as a botched first attempt.
Brigitte Stegemann, affectionately known as “GG” or “Oma” by her family, had been diagnosed with stomach cancer and had opted to end her life through Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program on July 10.
But two days before the scheduled procedure, her granddaughter and caregiver, Brigitte Kranendonk, asked Stegemann whether she understood what was about to happen.
Brigitte Stegemann, 83, was euthanized under Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program in Ontario on July 10.
Two days before her scheduled death, her granddaughter and caregiver, Brigitte Kranendonk, said she confronted Stegemann in blunt terms about what the procedure meant.
“I used very frank terms. I said: ‘Do you know that you’re going to die on Friday?’” Kranendonk recalled, according to the Daily Mail.
Stegemann, who apparently had no recollection of requesting an assisted death, began “bawling” for roughly 45 minutes and repeatedly said, “I’ve made a mistake,” her granddaughter claimed.
Kranendonk also alleged that Stegemann “got every question wrong” on a cognitive test intended to assess her ability to consent to the procedure. She said her grandmother appeared confused about her family as well, mistakenly believing that two of her siblings who were still alive had died.
Stegemann’s family alleges the 83-year-old was not capable of giving informed consent to the assisted death.
When the scheduled day arrived, Kranendonk claimed MAiD practitioners took advantage of her grandmother’s impaired cognitive state and proceeded with the procedure anyway. She alleged the process was rushed and that no relatives were present when Stegemann purportedly signed the consent form.
Kranendonk said the quiet, peaceful death her grandmother had been promised was anything but.
According to her account, the nurse struggled to insert the IV needed to administer the lethal medications, repeatedly piercing one of Stegemann’s arms before eventually attempting to use the other.
“There was a phenomenal amount of blood,” Kranendonk tearfully recalled. “It is all over my Oma’s arm, it is all over her nightie, soaking through her pillow, all over the sheets, there is so much blood. And throughout all this time, mind you, the nurse is not wearing gloves.”
