You have to read the story, it's far more complicated than it sounds. At first blush, it sounds like the story last month where a young man killed himself online for others to watch. This is not that story. It's a documentary about a man with a degenerative disease who finally decided it was over. He went with this wife to Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal, and with his wife present, took some pills and went to sleep. But it was filmed for a documentary and shown on TV in the UK. And a firestorm ensued.
I don't buy the talk about this being the next extension of trash TV. This is a real news story, and a real documentary. It's not reality TV. Of course, the Catholic Church and its surrogates are doing their best to ensure the most suffering possible. Oh the day the Catholic leadership, and the more self-righteous Christians among us, learn to care about people once they're born.
In the film, he says he wanted to take action before the disease, which destroys cells that control essential muscle activity such as speaking, walking, breathing and swallowing, left him completely incapacitated.
The documentary shows Ewert and his wife going about their daily routine: Mary cleans her husband's teeth, bathes, shaves and feeds him as he bows his head.
Speaking in a reedy voice and breathing deeply from plastic tubes attached to his nose, Ewert said he felt like "empty shell."
He said some people might say: "No, suicide is wrong, God has forbidden it. Fine, but you know what? This ventilator is God."
Before the pair leave for Switzerland, he is wheeled through a local park.
"I see the plants, and they're dying, and I'm dying too," he muses. "They'll be coming back next spring — I'm unlikely to."
"I think I can take my bow, and say: Thanks, it's been fun."
In an emotional message to his adult son and daughter, who appear in the program, Ewert asked for understanding.
"I would hope that this is not a cause of major distress to those who love me," he said, using a voice-activated computer to speak. "This is a journey I must make."
At the same time, he acknowledged, "My dear sweet wife will have the greatest loss, as we have been together for 37 years in the greatest intimacy."
The program shows Ewert being interviewed by Dr. Hans-Jurg Schweizer in Zurich, Switzerland. Schweizer, who is responsible for filling out the lethal prescriptions, gives his approval and wishes him a "happy journey."
Later, Ewert is set up on a small yellow bed in a nondescript room; as the technicians get ready, his wife says her goodbyes.
"Have a safe journey," she says, tearing up. "See you sometime."
Ewert chokes down the lethal cocktail, slurping apple juice through a pink straw to blot out the taste as the ninth movement of Beethoven's symphony plays in the background. His wife holds his hand as he begins dying.
