Nicole Gladu, this woman who won a battle in the Superior Court of Quebec in 2019 to expand medical assistance in dying, died on March 27 of a natural death at the age of 76.
In September 2019, the Superior Court of Quebec ruled in favor of Nicole Gladu and Jean Truchon, suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, by ruling that the criterion of imminent end of life was restrictive and discriminatory. His fight had aroused a lot of interest.
His first reaction at the time was to say it was a “happy shock”.
“If we wait for unanimity, we can never do anything for everything,” she pointed out.
Since then, several people have obtained permission to receive medical assistance in dying, even if they were not considered to be at the end of life.
“A majority of them were suffering from a neurodegenerative disease and had a vital prognosis of a year or more”, specifies the report of the special commission on the evolution of the law concerning end-of-life care.
“Despite this victory, Nicole has not yet availed herself of medical assistance in dying. She is not ready, even if for several years, she has suffered a lot”, recently wrote a good friend, Micheline Raymond in a testimony which will soon be published.
Owner of a publishing house, Gaétan Lavoie will publish next summer a book entitled The present timeswhich pays tribute to several painters.
A painting by Nicole Gladu, “La Battante”, made by the artist Manon Ruffet, will be found in this book.
“Manon Ruffet has produced quite a remarkable work,” simply commented Mr. Lavoie.
According to his relatives, M.me Gladu would have learned to live with his suffering.
Severely affected by the poliomyelitis epidemic in 1949, she was determined to succeed in her career. Nicole Gladu became a journalist and worked in Paris then in New York, at the United Nations, before returning to Quebec.
Federal Justice Minister David Lametti reacted on Thursday afternoon. “I want to salute the courage and determination of Nicole Gladu. She made the whole country think about what suffering and dignity meant,” he posted on Twitter.
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com