A murder investigation has been opened after a young woman was allegedly euthanised by a doctor and two nurses using a pillow following a botched attempt at palliative care.
Alexina Wattiez died in March 2022 in Belgium. Her relatives have filed a civil suit after it emerged that the 36-year-old woman might have been suffocated.
Ms Wattiez was told that she only had one year to live after being diagnosed with cancer. When her condition deteriorated, a doctor and two nurses were called to her home to sedate her so she could “sleep peacefully” in her final moment of life.
However, it is alleged that the sedation of Ms Wattiez failed, and she was ultimately suffocated to death with a pillow. A forensic investigation appears to confirm the allegation. One nurse has already admitted to the charge.
When Christophe Stulen, her partner, waited outside their home with their daughter, he heard Ms Wattiez screaming. When they entered the room, they found “her lying on the bed with her eyes and mouth open”.
A civil action has now been brought against the medical professionals involved in her suspected murder by asphyxiation.
The family’s lawyer said: “Could you imagine that your mother or your wife could end up suffocated by a cushion as part of her end of life? I think no one can conceive and imagine that.”
Euthanasia was legalised in 2002 in Belgium, where there were 3,423 such deaths in 2023.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “Alexina Wattiez’s death appears to be a shocking example of a health system taking it upon itself to kill a patient, part of a culture of killing engendered by irresponsible euthanasia and assisted suicide laws.
“Not only is state-sanctioned killing dangerous in itself, but it also undermines palliative care, as we see in this horrifying case of a young woman smothered to death – a sobering insight into what might await UK citizens if such laws are imposed here.”
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