Belgian Paralympic gold medallist Marieke Vervoort dies by euthanasia

23 October 2019, 08:17

Paralympian Marieke Vervoort has died by euthanasia
Paralympian Marieke Vervoort has died by euthanasia. Picture: PA

By Asher McShane

Belgian Paralympic gold medallist Marieke Vervoort has died by euthanasia at the age of 40.

The athlete had previously said she intended to choose to die if the incurable degenerative spinal disease she suffered from worsened.

Ms Vervoort signed papers in Belgium yesterday to end her own life.

The 40-year-old revealed in the build up to the 2016 games that she'd signed papers which

would at some stage allow a doctor to end her life.

A statement from her home city of Diest said Vervoort "responded to her choice on Tuesday evening".

She won gold and silver at London 2012, and two more medals in Rio in 2016 where she described living with the condition.

"It's too hard for my body," Vervoort said. "Each training I'm suffering because of pain. Every race I train hard.

"Training and riding and doing competition are medicine for me. I push so hard - to push literally all my fear and everything away." 

Ms Vervoort was a strong advocate of the right to choose euthanasia, saying it gave her control and put "my own life in my hands." 

"I'm really scared, but those (euthanasia) papers give me a lot of peace of mind because I know when it's enough for me, I have those papers.”

The city of Diest said a book of condolence will be accessible in its town hall from Wednesday.

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Israel Palestinians Britain Aid

UN top court orders Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza

Music-Green Day UN

Green Day to headline UN-backed global climate concert

Sam Bankman-Fried

FTX founder Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for crypto fraud

Israel Palestinians UN Security Council

Russia ‘abolishes’ monitoring of sanctions on North Korea with UN veto

France Valentino

Former Gucci designer Alessandro Michele named Valentino creative director

Russia Shooting

Russia arrests another suspect in concert hall attack that killed 143

American Easter egg

White House’s annual Easter egg roll to be attended by 40,000 people

Barbers in Paris

Proposal to ban discrimination over a person’s hair passes first legal hurdle

Mahmoud Abbas

Palestinian Authority names new government following pressure to reform

Arvind Kejriwal

Opposition leader Kejriwal locked up for further four days, court rules

Resident clears rubble from home

Russia wears down Ukrainian defences with missile and drone attacks

Pope Francis

Pope urges priests to avoid ‘clerical hypocrisy’ in Maundy Thursday speech

Wagner mercenaries

Wagner mercenaries helping to kill civilians in Mali, say human rights groups

Rescuers searching through rubble

Paramedics among 16 people killed by Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon

Hairdressers in Paris

French legislators ponder law to ban discrimination based on a person’s hair

Australian products in Shanghai

China ends tariffs on Australian wine as relations between countries thaw