Grandma allegedly euthanized against her will died ‘covered in her own blood’ after botched first attempt

The 83-year-old Canadian grandmother who was allegedly euthanized against her will died a bloody mess with her hands clasped in prayer after a botched first attempt.

Brigitte Stegemann, known as “GG” or “Oma” to her family, was suffering from stomach cancer and chose to end her life under Canada’s physician-assisted suicide program, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) on July 10.

However, two days before the procedure was to be performed, her granddaughter and caregiver, Brigitte Kranendonk, asked her grandmother if she was aware what was going to happen to her.

Brigitte Stegemann, 83, was euthanized under Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAiD) program in Ontario on July 10. Family Handout

“I used very frank terms. I said: ‘Do you know that you’re going to die on Friday?’” she asked, according to the Daily Mail.

Stegemann, apparently having no memory of requesting to end her life through the program, started “bawling” for 45 minutes, saying “I’ve made a mistake.”

She “got every question wrong” in a cognitive test conducted to determine if she was of sound enough mind to consent to physician-assisted suicide, and said she believed two of her living siblings were dead, Kranendonk claimed.

Stegemann’s family allege the grandmother was able to consent to the assisted suicide. Family Handout

But when her scheduled day came, Kranendonk said MAiD practitioners took advantage of her grandmother’s cloudy cognitive state to go ahead with the procedure — claiming it was hurried along and that no family was present for her alleged signing of the consent form.

Kranendonk said the quiet, peaceful death her grandmother had been promised was anything but — with the nurse having a hard time inserting the IV to deliver the deadly drug cocktail into her arm, and even piercing her repeatedly before trying the other arm.

“There was a phenomenal amount of blood,” Kranendonk tearfully recalled. “It is all over my Oma’s arm, it is all over her nightie, soaking through her pillow, all over the sheets, there is so much blood. And throughout all this time, mind you, the nurse is not wearing gloves.”

Brigitte Stegemann, 83, who was euthanized under Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAiD) program, is shown in an undated photo. Family Handout

The granddaughter said a doctor then entered her room and asked Stegemann if he could administer her “medicine,” but Kranendonk said she was lying motionless with her eyes closed and didn’t make a sound.

“And the doctor just said, ‘OK, well, I’m going to proceed.”

Ten minutes later, the 83-year-old was pronounced dead.

Stegemann’s family is now demanding answers about what happened at The Pearl care home in Cannifton, and whether it was legal — appealing to the chief coroner’s office in Ontario, the patient ombudsman and the Belleville Police.

A spokesman for Belleville Police told the Daily Mail, “This incident is currently open and under investigation with our Criminal Investigations Division. We are unable to provide any additional information at this time.”

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