RaiNews – Massimiliano, a 44-year-old Italian, who has been suffering from multiple sclerosis for six years, died on Thursday via assisted suicide in a clinic in Switzerland.
Massimiliano had campaigned to be allowed to die in his home in Italy, but after his appeals were rejected, he took the decision to go to Switzerland where such a procedure is permitted.
In a video posted to Facebook, he said that due to the condition “he was completely paralysed and struggled to even speak”. He explained that “for a couple of years, since I can’t take it anymore, I started to read up on the internet about painless suicide methods”, and that by going to Switzerland, “I finally reached my dream.”
However, he also stated that “it was a shame I couldn’t achieve it in Italy, but instead I have to go abroad” and asked “Why can’t I do it here in Italy? At my house, even in a hospital, with relatives and friends nearby”.
Massimiliano’s father, Bruno, appeared in the video next to his son, explaining that “he is clear-minded” and that “it is his will”. He added that he wished laws in Italy allowed him to do it in his home country. On his trip to Switzerland, he was accompanied by Luca Coscioni, an activist of the Legal Euthanasia campaign and Chiara Lalli, a journalist and bioethicist. Both will report to the police in Florence tomorrow morning.
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