The first images of the double suicide capsule that will be used to euthanize a British couple have been revealed by the assisted dying company behind the controversial new device.
Peter and Christine Scott, who have been married for 46 years, told the Mail this week they made the decision to end their lives at the same time in the pod after former nurse Christine was diagnosed with early-stage vascular dementia.
The 80-year-old woman and her 86-year-old husband, who have six grandchildren, will now become the first couple to die thanks to The Last Resort, a Switzerland-based organisation offering assisted dying at the Sarco, launched in July.
The two-person capsule will be built using a 3D printer, will have one or two buttons that occupants can press to trigger their death, and could be ready for use as early as January.
The single-person capsule, which has already been built by the company, has yet to be used after a planned assisted death failed to go ahead in July, and a new first “occupant” is now expected to die in the machine soon.
Peter and Christine Scott told the Mail this week that they made the decision to end their lives at the same time.
The couple will die in Sarco, a euthanasia pod opened in July by The Last Resort, a Swiss-based organization.
The capsule works by replacing the air with 100 percent nitrogen, which renders the occupant unconscious and unable to breathe within minutes. The interior of the double capsule will be very similar to the interior of this regular single-person Sarco.
The capsule works by replacing air with 100 percent nitrogen, rendering the occupant unconscious and unable to breathe within minutes, according to Philip Nitschke, its inventor, nicknamed Dr. Death.
The Scotts are among about 120 applicants hoping to use the machine to end their lives, according to The Last Resort, with about a quarter of those on the waiting list said to be British.
Assisted dying is illegal in the UK, and the couple said this week they wanted to share their story to add weight to the argument for legalising it.
Peter, a former RAF engineer, is currently working on his application and says he is keen for Christine to be allowed to use the machine as securing assisted suicide for people suffering from dementia is more difficult than for other conditions.
Christina’s diagnosis several weeks ago means the couple’s path to assisted dying may have to be accelerated, as she could lose the ability to consent to an assisted death, according to The Last Resort’s Fiona Stewart.
He said the couple would have to undergo “rigorous and strict” psychiatric evaluations before they were allowed to use the pod.
Husband and wife have said they wish to die in each other’s arms after a long and happy marriage, a wish shared by many devout couples.
Several other couples are also in the process of applying to use Sarco, Stewart said, even though the double capsule is only in the design stage.
Earlier this year, Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt and his wife Eugenie, both 93, died hand in hand via euthanasia.
The number of couples opting for joint euthanasia has increased in recent years in the Netherlands, the first country along with Belgium to legalise voluntary physician-assisted dying in 2002.
Strict conditions need to be met by both parties, making it extremely rare, but the most recent official figures showed an increase from nine couples dying this way in 2018 to 29 in 2022.
“I think there’s a trend toward more couples because people are living longer and with more illnesses,” Stewart said.
The double capsule is noticeably stubbier and wider than the original.
The husband and wife have said they want to die in each other’s arms after a long and happy marriage of 46 years.
Australian euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke (pictured), also known as “Dr Death”, is a former physician and inventor of the capsule.
‘They are more likely to be married for a long period of time now than in past generations, when people were dying at age 60.’
She said it is more difficult for couples than individuals to get assisted dying in Switzerland, “because what needs to be established is that each of them individually wants to die, but they want to die with the other person and that the other person is not putting pressure on them to do so.”
“We have to make sure that both have the necessary capacity. We have to make sure that both act voluntarily. It is not impossible, but we have to make sure that it is absolutely clear that it is possible to work within the limits of Swiss law.”
Stewart said that with a complete psychiatric evaluation, she is “not particularly concerned about people changing their minds once they are inside” the Sarco.
‘I think once you get into the Sarco, although there is a release handle and you can open the door at any time, I think they have been approved by psychiatrists who are fully registered and know what they are doing.
“We cannot assume that they do not repent, but it is clear that it would be better if one of them repents before entering the Sarco. That is why the role of psychiatry is so important.”
The Australian euthanasia advocate, who is a lawyer by training, said she believes the crisis in the NHS and social care plays a role in the number of Britons considering euthanasia.
“I think everyone is concerned about the National Health Service. You know, there’s hardly a night that goes by that it doesn’t appear in the British news in some way,” he said.
But, he said, ‘it goes beyond health care to the fear of not being able to take care of yourself.
An early version of the Sarco Pod, which can be operated internally and works by reducing oxygen levels.
‘I think we need to create a space for public debate so that people can say, “I don’t want to go to a nursing home. I’d rather die than go to a nursing home.” And we need to treat that opinion as if it were a rational and legitimate opinion.
“You know, some people think they’re not going to like living in a nursing home, and then they realize they think it’s great, but there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.”
Christina and Peter shared their fears of enduring years of illness within the health care system, as well as their worries about losing their home and life savings to pay for the costs of care, during an emotional family summit with their son and daughter.
Her shocked children eventually agreed to respect her wishes, the couple told the Mail on Sunday.
Stewart praised the couple’s attitude in telling their loved ones, saying: “I think they’re setting a great example of how families can act in the future.”
“Because this is the beginning of a trend of dying at a very old age but not getting sick, or getting sick and not being able to get help, even if the UK passes a law. And I think they are the tip of the iceberg, really.”
This is what anti-euthanasia activists fear: that offering people a way to end their lives will result in a huge increase in people choosing it when they could be better served by palliative or other end-of-life care.
Dr Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of anti-euthanasia group Care Not Killing, said it was “shocking” that a couple “feel they have no choice but to end their lives in a gas chamber because they don’t believe they will get the care they need from an NHS in crisis”.
Campaigners have argued that older people opt for euthanasia out of fear of being a “burden” on their families.
Dr Macdonald added: “That’s why the safest law is the one we have now and why the Government should focus on fixing our broken palliative care system which sees up to one in four Britons who would benefit from this kind of care unable to access it and leads to these kinds of terribly sad cases.”
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