Physically-healthy Dutch lady dies by euthanasia shortly

A physically-healthy Dutch woman has died by euthanasia shortly after turning 29 because she didn’t want to live with depression and anxiety.

Zoraya ter Beek, who also suffered from trauma  and borderline personality disorder, decided that she wanted to die after struggling with mental health issues for over a decade, while claiming that no treatment had helped her. 

She died at 1:25pm local time on May 22 – 20 days after her birthday – with the help of the Euthanasia Expertise Center, a blog post shared by a friend said.

A tweet shared by another friend called Martin said Beek died ‘humanely’. People who die by euthanasia are typically given a  barbiturate solution which stops their heart, although the method of Beek’s death has not been shared.

A screengrab of Beek’s X account was posted, which now reads Zoraya – Status: Departed in an apparent nod to her death.  

Another photo in the same post showed Beek’s date of birth – May 2 1995 – and her date of death. May 2 2024 was also printed on the card but crossed out, suggesting she may have originally been planning to die on her 29th birthday. 

A third image showed a bird flying away from a tree which had shed some of its leaves in what appears to be a symbolic depiction of Beek’s passing. 

She died ‘a dignified death, which she longed for for years due to unbearable psychological suffering,’ according an obituary published by Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad.

Beek was with her boyfriend when she died, although further details of her death have not been shared. 

A blog paying tribute to her said: ‘Now it’s quiet……no more texts……no tweets……no vague shizzle……no cat pictures……no motivational kick in the ass……

‘And me? I am sad but happy at the same time. Sad to miss it, but there is so much understanding that the sadness doesn’t bother me. Happy because her greatest wish could come true in the way she hoped and wished. That she could go to sleep forever.’ 

Beek, who comes from the small Dutch town of Oldenzaal, had been outspoken about her death wish and publicly shared her hopes to die by euthanasia last October.

The 29-year-old, who celebrated her birthday on May 2, said that she had a good life – but that it wasn’t enough to live for.

 ‘I have a house. Two cheerful cats. And a partner who loves me dearly, and I love him. I’ve got everything. But that “all” is not enough to live for.’

Beek’s partner supported her wish and he was by her side when she died. 

Her account on X was closed and it was up to her friend Martin (@tintal1971 on X) to announce her death. 

He wrote on Wednesday: ‘For the people who called it a bluff, who called her an attention whore. Excuse yourself and sit in a corner. Ask yourself, are you part of the problem, or part of the solution?’ 

The announcement read, ‘Zoraya passed away today at 1.25 pm. Or as she saw it herself: she went to sleep. Her last wish/request is to leave her loved ones alone and, if possible, to swallow disrespectful reactions. She understood that euthanasia for psychological suffering is still a “thing” for some people.’

She had been on a waiting list to receive euthanasia for three years, and as Beek shared her journey on social media she became an ambassador for fellow sufferers. 

As an advocate for death by euthanasia for those who want it, Beek was thrust into the public eye – where many people scrutinized her views. 

‘Sometimes you really get a truckload of shit thrown at you from people who are against it anyway. Who accuse you of being an attention seeker. There is always some kind of burden of proof,’ she told the Dutch newspaper.

‘People want to be able to see that you are suffering. That you cry. But yes, I put on makeup and dress well when I go out. They only see me happily doing my thing, not on the days when I lie in bed all day.’

Zoraya ter Beek received the approval for assisted dying earlier this month. After announcing the news, she hit out at critics, declaring their protest of her death ‘insulting.’ She suggested she planned to end her life in June, but ended up receiving euthanasia slightly earlier. 

‘People think that when you’re mentally ill, you can’t think straight, which is insulting,’ she told the Guardian. 

‘I understand the fears that some disabled people have about assisted dying… but in the Netherlands we’ve had this law for more than 20 years. There are really strict rules, and it’s really safe.’

Euthanasia has been legal in The Netherlands since 2002 for those experiencing ‘unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement’.   

Beek’s case has received global attention and ignited the debate about assisted dying. Many who support euthanasia say it should only be available to terminally-ill people facing an imminent, painful and undignified death. 

Others – like Beek – insist a comfortable, peaceful suicide should be an available option to people suffering from insurmountable mental anguish. 

Those who are completely against euthanasia say it is a slippery slope and that offering it to the terminally-ill will eventually lead to it becoming an option for people whose illnesses could be cured or treated effectively.  

Beek decided she wanted to die after a psychiatrist told her ‘there’s nothing more we can do for you’ and that ‘it’s never gonna get any better’, The Free Press reported.

She previously said she would be euthanized on the sofa in her home with her boyfriend by her side.

Beek said her crippling depression and anxiety caused her to self-harm and feel suicidal for years, claiming that no amount of mental health treatment – which to date has included talking therapies, various medications and even electroconvulsive therapy – has worked to reduce her affliction.

When she was just 22, Beek opted to get a do not resuscitate badge, something that is typically worn by elderly people. 

She had on many occasions contemplated killing herself but resisted after seeing the devastating impact of a schoolfriend’s violent suicide on her family. 

The 29-year-old last month told The Free Press she has always been ‘very clear that if it doesn’t get better, I can’t do this anymore’.

Her boyfriend will scatter her ashes in ‘a nice spot in the woods’ that they have chosen together, she said.

‘I don’t see it as my soul leaving, but more as myself being freed from life,’ she said of her expected death, admitting: ‘I’m a little afraid of dying, because it’s the ultimate unknown. 

‘We don’t really know what’s next – or is there nothing? That’s the scary part.’  

The Netherlands is one of only three countries in the EU where the practice of assisted dying is legal, with rights groups arguing it gives people battling terminal illness or crippling disease the right to end their suffering humanely. 

Data revealed that 8,720 people in the Netherlands ended their lives via euthanasia in 2022 – an increase of 14 percent on the year before.