‘Suicide pod’ creator speaks out, denies claim that first user strangled – National
The man who invented the so-called “suicide pod” has spoken and denied allegations that the US woman who was the first to die using the device may have been strangled.
Dr. Philip Nitschke, a right-to-death lawyer at Exit International and a qualified doctor, said Wednesday that although he did not attend the woman’s death on September 23 in Switzerland, he watched it live on video.
The machine worked as planned, he said, the first and only time it was used.
This photo shows the Sarco suicide pod, during a press event organized by “Last Resort”, a Swiss non-profit human rights organization focused on assisted suicide, in Zurich on July 17, 2024. The 3-D printed Sarco and the coffin is a suicide machine, which can be activated internally by a person intending to die, by filling the capsule with nitrogen, which causes hypoxic death in the occupant.
Arnd Wiegmann / AFP via Getty Images
The pod “Sarco” (short for sarcophagus) has been in operation for years, but until September it had never been used.
News of the use of this capsule made headlines around the world in September, when many people were arrested and a criminal case was opened regarding its use.
The head of the Swiss company under Exit International known as The Last Resort, Florian Willet, was present when the woman died and was taken to police custody, where they are still investigating the woman’s death.
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Others were initially arrested, including a reporter from the Volkskrant newspaper in the Netherlands, where Nitschke lives, and later released.
In an interview with the Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung this week, Nitschke said he felt compelled to speak out and help Willet.
He told the report that the woman who died was suffering from “a very serious illness involving great pain” and had wished to die “for at least two years.”
Nitschke said the woman chose the spot in the woods where she died and “almost pushed the button” to kill herself after entering the hole.
On October 26, the Volkskrant reported that a Swiss prosecutor testified in court that the woman may have been strangled. A Volkskrant document last month said one of its cameramen, two lawyers and Willet were initially arrested on suspicion of inciting suicide and providing assistance in doing so.
“It doesn’t make sense because we have the film that the capsule was not opened,” said Nitschke. “Everything happened as we predicted. The woman got into the Sarco by herself, closed the lid without help and pressed the nitrogen release button herself. He fainted and died six minutes later.”
He also added that Willet was in possession of the cell phone Nitschke used to watch a video of a woman using Sarco, and he reported to the police immediately after that that she was dead.
Nitschke remembers talking to Willet on the phone at the time, saying: “I was listening and answering his questions and calming him down because it was a very tense time for him.”
Sarco pods allow a person to control their own death inside the capsule by rapidly reducing the oxygen levels inside. A person who intends to end his life needs to answer a set of pre-recorded questions, then press a button that fills the interior with nitrogen. The oxygen level inside quickly drops from 21 percent to one, and the person must fall asleep and die of suffocation within minutes.
After death, the pod can be used as a coffin, although this time the capsule was confiscated by the Swiss police.
Fiona Stewart, member of the Advisory Board and COO of The Last Resort, a Swiss non-profit human rights organization focused on assisted suicide, presented the Sarco suicide capsule in Zurich on July 17, 2024.
Arnd Wiegmann / AFP via Getty Images
Swiss law allows assisted suicide as long as the person takes their own life without “external assistance” and those who help the person to die do not do so “for any selfish purpose,” according to the government’s website.
Currently, assisted suicide in Switzerland means swallowing a capsule filled with a cocktail of controlled substances that puts a person in a deep coma before they die.
– in files from the Associated Press
If you or someone you know is in trouble and needs help, resources are available. In an emergency, please call 911 for immediate assistance.
For immediate mental health help, call 988. For a directory of support services in your area, visit the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention at suicideprevention.ca.
Learn more about suicide prevention with these warning signs and tips on how to help.
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