{"id":246689,"date":"2025-02-25T20:41:06","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T20:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/facing-early-onset-alzheimers-she-fought-to-expand-assisted-suicide-in-quebec\/"},"modified":"2025-02-25T20:41:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T20:41:06","slug":"facing-early-onset-alzheimers-she-fought-to-expand-assisted-suicide-in-quebec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/facing-early-onset-alzheimers-she-fought-to-expand-assisted-suicide-in-quebec\/","title":{"rendered":"Facing Early-Onset Alzheimer\u2019s, She Fought to Expand Assisted Suicide in Quebec"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/12\/multimedia\/00canada-assisted-death-profile-promo\/00canada-assisted-death-profile-fzjq-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Facing Early-Onset Alzheimer\u2019s, She Fought to Expand Assisted Suicide in Quebec\" title=\"Facing Early-Onset Alzheimer\u2019s, She Fought to Expand Assisted Suicide in Quebec\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One recent evening, Sandra Demontigny tried to write down when she would die.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI sat down in a corner with a candle next to me, just to create my own bubble, to think and to cry a little,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She had reflected on this moment for years, desperately hoped for it, fought tirelessly for it. But the words refused to come out. The form before her remained blank. How, exactly, does one decide when to end one\u2019s life?<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Canada\u2019s French-speaking province of Quebec last fall became one of the few places in the world to allow a person with a serious and incurable illness to choose medically assisted death in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quebec.ca\/en\/health\/health-system-and-services\/end-of-life-care\/medical-aid-in-dying\/advance-request-medical-aid-dying\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">advance<\/a> \u2014 perhaps years before the act, when the person still has the mental capacity to make such a momentous decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And Ms. Demontigny \u2014 a 45-year-old mother of three, diagnosed in the prime of her life with a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer\u2019s \u2014 played a pivotal role in lobbying for the change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some facing such a grave health challenge might have withdrawn. But even as Ms. Demontigny (deux-mon-tee-gnee) began losing her memory, she became the face of the campaign to expand the right to die in Quebec.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In front of health ministers and lawmakers, on talk shows, in countless interviews, she spoke of how she had inherited the Alzheimer\u2019s gene carried by her family. She recalled how her middle-aged father, in the last years of his life, became unrecognizable and aggressive. She wanted to die with dignity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still, four months after Quebec expanded the right to die, she had yet to fill out the advanced request forms. Choosing death was agonizing enough, but Ms. Demontigny had to declare, in precise details, the circumstances under which the lethal dose would be administered. Should it be carried out when she needs care round the clock? When she no longer recognizes her own children?<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cEven though it\u2019s a subject that\u2019s preoccupied me for years, it\u2019s different now because I have to make an official request,\u201d Ms. Demontigny said. \u201cBut I\u2019m not changing my mind \u2014 that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Under the new law, an advanced request for assisted death must meet a set of criteria and be approved by two physicians or specialized nurses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Across the world, only a few countries \u2014 including the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and Colombia \u2014 recognize advance requests for assisted deaths, though, in some cases, not for people suffering from Alzheimer\u2019s or other forms of dementia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At her one-bedroom apartment, Ms. Demontigny spoke during a two-hour interview often punctuated by the cries of a very voluble siamese cat named Litchi. Her partner, Andr\u00e9 Secours, was visiting \u2014 helping her recall a detail, reminding her of a scheduled phone call in the afternoon or an appointment the following day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Though only in her mid-40s, Ms. Demontigny moved into the apartment \u2014 inside a residence for older people in L\u00e9vis, a suburb south of Quebec City \u2014 as she needed more help a year ago. She chose to live alone, not wanting to burden her family. Her two older children were already adults, and her youngest went to live with Ms. Demontigny\u2019s former husband.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Her front door was covered with reminder notes. A timer on top of the stovetop range cuts off power automatically. The dresses in her closet were methodically arranged and archived with photos on her smartphone. No system was foolproof, though.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019m doing something,\u201d she said, \u201cand Litchi walks past by me, and I follow Litchi and I forget what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Bright sofa covers \u2014 brought back from Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other places where she had worked as a midwife \u2014 hinted at her life before her Alzheimer\u2019s diagnosis at age 39.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Demontigny decided to become a midwife after the difficult birth of her first child. The obstetrician, she said, performed a procedure without warning her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s my body \u2014 can you at least tell me?\u201d Ms. Demontigny said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As a midwife, she wanted women to be able to give birth in a respectful and natural environment. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For Ms. Demontigny, there was a direct link between a proper birth and a proper death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cLife and death resemble each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When Ms. Demontigny learned that she had Alzheimer\u2019s, she slipped into depression but was not surprised. Several older relatives had begun experiencing symptoms of Alzheimer\u2019s at a young age, though they kept the illness hidden as long as they could, out of shame.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Her father started losing his memory in his mid-40s and stopped working at 47. At home, he spent his days wandering, bumping into walls and collapsing from exhaustion. In his final years at a health facility, he licked the floor and acted menacingly, even threatening to kill his son, Ms. Demontigny\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Like many Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois families, Ms. Demontigny\u2019s parents had drifted away from the Roman Catholic Church, and Ms. Demontigny considered herself an atheist. And yet, when her father died after years of anguish, she said she felt his soul depart.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI hadn\u2019t seen him like that, at peace, in at least 10 years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While her parents\u2019 generation kept silent about Alzheimer\u2019s, Ms. Demontigny set up a Facebook <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100031055663529\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">page<\/a> in 2019 to describe living with the illness. The social media posts from a mother of three, not yet 40, who had to give up her career as a midwife because of a rare form of Alzheimer\u2019s, resonated in Quebec. She became the spokeswoman for the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/alzheimer.ca\/federationquebecoise\/en\/about-us#:~:text=The%20Federation%20of%20Quebec%20Alzheimer%20Societies%20is%20the%20provincial%20voice,disease%20and%20their%20loved%20ones.\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Federation of Quebec Alzheimer Societies<\/a> and wrote a book about her experience, \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/editionslapresse.ca\/products\/lurgence-de-vivre\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The Urgency to Live<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Quebec legalized assisted death a decade ago, before the rest of Canada. Under the law, a person had to be in an \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gc.ca\/eng\/cj-jp\/ad-am\/bk-di.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">advanced state of irreversible decline in capability<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gc.ca\/eng\/cj-jp\/ad-am\/bk-di.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">must expressly confirm their consent immediately<\/a>\u201d before the assisted death. But the requirements presented a problem for those suffering from an incurable and serious disease like Alzheimer\u2019s, who were likely to lose their capacity to consent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dr. Georges L\u2019Esp\u00e9rance, a neurosurgeon and president of the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/aqdmd.org\/en\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Quebec Association for the Right to Die with Dignity<\/a>, said Ms. Demontigny helped press to allow for advance requests after becoming the group\u2019s spokeswoman in 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cShe played a primordial role,\u201d Dr. L\u2019Esp\u00e9rance said. \u201cIt\u2019s fine to discuss these concepts in the abstract. But it\u2019s different when you can link an illness to someone that people can identify with. And Sandra\u2019s an open book and very credible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Secours, Ms. Demontigny\u2019s partner, said fighting for the change had helped fill the void created by her diagnosis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cShe had never expected to commit herself to a cause,\u201d Mr. Secours said. \u201cBut that saved her, that gave meaning to her life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the half-decade since her diagnosis, Ms. Demontigny had led a busy life \u2014 speaking out, writing a book, becoming a grandmother. She had embarked on a romantic relationship with Mr. Secours, 72, who lived across the street from her old place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAndr\u00e9 talks to everybody, says hello to everybody, he\u2019s very cheerful,\u201d Ms. Demontigny said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe were friends, neighbors, in the beginning, then our affection developed,\u201d Mr. Secours said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some people, though, asked him why he had chosen to get involved with someone with an incurable illness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cEven my mother, who just turned 100 and sees very well, told me, \u2018Andr\u00e9, you\u2019re really not making your life easier.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cShe doesn\u2019t say that anymore,\u201d Ms. Demontigny interjected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The couple vacationed in Costa Rica last year and were hoping to go on a safari in South Africa, they said, as Litchi now lay sleeping before the television.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Perhaps it was this, the life she was still able to lead and enjoy, that made it difficult for Ms. Demontigny to put down in writing, as required by law, the \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quebec.ca\/en\/health\/health-system-and-services\/end-of-life-care\/medical-aid-in-dying\/advance-request-medical-aid-dying\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">clinical manifestations<\/a>\u201d that will lead to assisted death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Because Ms. Demontigny is likely to become incapable of consenting as her illness progresses, the manifestations she describes will \u201cconstitute the expression\u201d of her consent in the future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In fact, she had written<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>in her book that she wanted assisted death to be carried out when certain conditions were met, including being unable to recognize even one of her children and behaving aggressively toward her loved ones. But though she knew exactly what she was going to say as she sat over the documents on that recent evening, she could not bring herself to write it down, not yet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019m not going to change my mind because for me, in my situation, that\u2019s the best possible end,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t want to die. I\u2019m not ready. That\u2019s not what I want.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/25\/world\/canada\/sandra-demontigny-assisted-suicide-quebec.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One recent evening, Sandra Demontigny tried to write down when she would die. \u201cI sat down in a corner with a candle next to me, just to create my own bubble, to think and to cry a little,\u201d she said. She had reflected on this moment for years, desperately hoped for it, fought tirelessly for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/12\/multimedia\/00canada-assisted-death-profile-promo\/00canada-assisted-death-profile-fzjq-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[186825,5174,7977,740,165576,3148,191354,6315,1924,40061,137130,18878,175957,6987],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246689"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246689"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246691,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246689\/revisions\/246691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}