Dutch couple's final act of love: Dying together through euthanasia

A couple from the Netherlands, together since they were children, decided to end their lives through euthanasia after years of failing health. Jan Faber, 70, had been dealing with severe chronic back pain for years, even after surgery in 2003. The pain left him bedridden and unable to find any relief. Then in November 2022, his wife Els van Leeningen, 71, was diagnosed with dementia, 

The couple decided to end their lives together through duo-euthanasia, which is legally allowed in the Netherlands for physician-assisted death. This highly controversial practice has been legal in the Netherlands since 2002 through a new law known as the Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide Act. 

"If you take a lot of medicine, you just feel like a zombie," Jan told the BBC. "So, with the pain I have, and Els' illness, I think we have to stop this." By "stop this," he clarified, he meant stop living altogether.

“I’ve lived my life, I don’t want pain anymore,” he said.

Els agreed, stating: "There is no other solution." The couple made the decision before Els' dementia worsened to the point where she could no longer consent.

Married for nearly five decades, Jan had worked as a sports coach while Els was an elementary school teacher. As Jan's chronic pain left him unable to work, he often discussed euthanasia with family, saying he didn't want to live with such physical limitations.

Under Dutch law and according to the country’s website, euthanasia is only permissible when requested earnestly by the patient who perceives it as "the only escape" from "unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement." Physicians are not obligated to grant euthanasia requests.

The couple's son, who remained anonymous, called it a "strange day" losing both parents. "I remember we were having dinner...and I got tears in my eyes just watching us all having that final dinner together," he told the BBC.

"The final half hour was difficult. The doctors arrived and everything happened quickly...and then it's just a matter of minutes." Doctors administered the lethal medication to Jan and Els on June 3 at a local hospice, where the couple died together.