Sick veteran offered ‘death’ instead of medical equipment

Christine Gauthier, a 54-year-old Canadian army veteran and Paralympian, says the Canadian government would quickly approve her for so-called “medical assistance in dying,” but will not give her the equipment she needs for her everyday life.

Gauthier, a retired corporal who competed in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics and in the Invictus Games, lives with a musculoskeletal disorder affecting her back, legs, and hips; and, according to GB News, she recently found out she may have digestive cancer. Veterans Affairs Canada has offered her a so-called ‘medically-assisted death’ instead of the support she requested.

“As I am waiting for medical equipment and an elevator, it’s been six years now, it’s still not there. I told my agent I ‘couldn’t go anymore’ and he told me I ‘have the right to die,”’ Gauthier said.

Live Action News previously reported on Gauthier’s 2022 court testimony when she said Veterans Affairs Canada offered her medical assistance in dying (MAiD) instead of a wheelchair ramp. Gauthier claimed that she sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Veterans Affairs Canada, and Veterans Affairs Canada responded with a letter offering Gauthier MAiD (‘medical assistance in dying’).

In an interview, Gauthier said, “I have a letter saying that if you’re so desperate, madam, we can offer you MAiD, medical assistance in dying… I was like, ‘I can’t believe that you will… give me an injection to help me die, but you will not give me the tools I need to help me live.’ It was really shocking to hear that kind of comment.”

Gauthier told GBN America that she is still waiting for medical equipment and an elevator so she can go up and down stairs. As Live Action News reported, journalist Sheila Gunn Reid said Gauthier was previously refused a chairlift and the veteran had to “wriggle up and down her stairs on her belly like an animal.”

GBN reports that Gauthier’s years-long efforts to obtain support from Veterans Affairs Canada and the ready offer for euthanasia from the department have left her despondent. Reportedly, Gauthier says she is tempted to apply for MAiD – though she never plans to die in such a manner – just to see if she could obtain ‘medical assistance in dying’ in a shorter time than it would take for her to receive the equipment she needs to live well.

“I am so close to carrying out a test. I would love to do it. I would never go this way, ever. But I would love to go next week and start the process of seeing how long it would take to get euthanasia,” Gauthier said. “It’s ridiculous, because I could probably be dead in two weeks.”

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Live Action News.]

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