Canadian grandmother euthanized against her will, family says

An 83-year-old Canadian grandmother died by lethal injection after her family says she rejected assisted suicide and never gave final verbal consent.

Brigitte Stegemann died July 10 at The Pearl, a long-term care home in Belleville, Ontario. Her family called her GG.

Stegemann had untreatable Stage IV stomach cancer. About two months before her death, she rejected assisted suicide, according to her family’s public account.

Stegemann was a devout Christian. Her family says she believed assisted suicide violated her faith and wanted to die naturally.

Yet her faith-based refusal did not end the matter.

Her granddaughter, Brigitte Kranendonk, held power of attorney and had helped care for her for more than 12 years. The home often called Kranendonk about her grandmother’s care.

While Kranendonk was away for 10 days, workers met privately with Stegemann about assisted suicide. The family says no one told them who reopened the issue.

The family also questioned whether Stegemann could understand the choice.

She was deaf in her left ear and had little hearing in her right. She had also spent several days weak and barely responsive.

During a July 7 assisted-suicide assessment, Stegemann failed to answer basic questions about her family, according to relatives present at the meeting.

She said she had no siblings, though she was one of 14 children. Some of her siblings are still alive.

Stegemann became upset and said she forgot about her grandchildren.

Her family says the doctor still met with her alone. The doctor later told them, “I have deemed her capable of making her own decisions.”

That finding meant Kranendonk could not block the procedure as Stegemann’s power of attorney.

The family says the home then completed assisted-suicide paperwork after Stegemann’s death had already been scheduled for July 10. Staff at the home served as witnesses.

On July 8, Kranendonk asked her grandmother if she understood what would happen.

“They’re gonna kill me?” Stegemann replied, according to Kranendonk’s recorded account.

Stegemann cried and repeatedly said she had made a mistake, Kranendonk said.

On July 10, relatives took Stegemann outside for strawberry ice cream while they waited for her pastor. Staff soon pressed them to bring her inside for an intravenous line, the family says.

Stegemann clasped her hands in prayer when the doctor arrived. She remained silent.

The doctor told her, “Okay, Brigitte, I’m gonna give you your medicine.”

When Stegemann did not answer, the doctor allegedly said, “Okay, well, I’m just gonna get started then.”

The drugs were administered. Stegemann died soon afterward.

Canadian law says an assisted-suicide patient must be mentally competent and make a voluntary request. The person also must give informed consent immediately before death unless a valid written waiver applies.

Patients may withdraw consent at any time and in any way.

The family had not received Stegemann’s assessments, signed request or any waiver of final consent when reporter Kelsi Sheren published a detailed account of the case July 27.

The family said it was seeking those records and preparing formal complaints. Sheren said the doctor and nursing home did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

No court or government agency has ruled that Stegemann’s death violated the law.

The case comes as assisted-suicide deaths continue to rise in Canada.

Heartlander News previously reported that 16,499 Canadians died through Medical Assistance in Dying, or MAiD, in 2024, up 6.9% from 2023.

Assisted suicide now accounts for 5% of all Canadian deaths, according to Health Canada, and more than one-fifth of applicants cite “isolation or loneliness” as their reason for requesting it, Live Action reported. Canada recorded 76,475 assisted-suicide deaths from legalization in 2016 through the end of 2024. Legal euthanasia for mental illness is scheduled to begin in 2027.

Rebecca Vachon, health program director at the Canadian think tank Cardus, said the numbers show assisted suicide has become a routine part of the country’s health system.

“Health Canada’s report confirms what Alexander Raikin laid out in a Cardus report last year: MAiD has gone from exceptional to routine,” Vachon said in a release.

“This is a far cry from the expectations established by courts and political leaders in legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide,” she added.

Instead of remaining a rare practice reserved for the aged and terminally ill, MAiD has reportedly been offered for reasons including homelessness, poverty and the inability to access disability or mental health services, Live Action reported.