Frenchman to livestream own death in right-to-die case
05 September, 2020
A Frenchman who is suffering from an incurable condition said Friday he plans to livestream his death on social media as he won't take food, drink or medicine after President Emmanuel Macron rejected his obtain euthanasia.
Alain Cocq, who is suffering from a rare condition where in fact the walls of the arteries stick together, said he believed he had under a week to live and would livestream his death on Facebook from Saturday morning.
He previously written to Macron asking to get a substance that could allow him to die in peace however the president wrote back to him explaining this is prohibited under French law.
Cocq, 57, has used his plight to draw focus on the problem of terminally-ill patients in France who cannot be permitted to die in line with their wishes.
"Because I am not above the law, I am unable to adhere to your request," Macron said in a letter to Cocq, that your patient published on his Facebook page.
"I cannot ask one to go beyond our current legal framework... Your wish is to request active assistance in dying which is not currently permitted inside our country," said Macron.
'With profound respect'
To be able to show France the "agony" due to regulations in its present state, Cocq told AFP he'd broadcast the end of his life on his Facebook page which he believed would can be found in "four to five days".
He said he hoped his struggle would be remembered and "decrease in the long run" as a step forwards in changing the law. He'd halt all feeding, drinking and treatment from Friday night.
Macron said in his latter that "with emotion, I respect your action." And the president added a handwritten postscript, saying: "With all my own support and profound respect."
An Elysee official told AFP that Macron wished to hail Cocq's commitment to the rights of the handicapped.
Right-to-die cases have always been an emotive issue in France.
Most polarising was the case of Vincent Lambert who was simply left in a vegetative state after a traffic accident in 2008 and died in July last year after doctors removed life support carrying out a long legal battle.
The case divided the united states in addition to Lambert's own family, along with his parents using every legal avenue to keep him alive but his wife and nephew insisting he must be allowed to die.
A French court in January acquitted the physician who switched off the life span support systems in a verdict that was a formality after prosectors said he "perfectly respected his legal obligations."
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