Determined to die (Swiss Press Text 2012, by Walter Däpp) - Swiss Press Award

DIE ZEIT, Schweiz,

Walter Däpp

The article commemorates Gunter Sachs's suicide. At 61, Erica Bolinger, an artist in Châbles, Fribourg, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Two years later, she took her own life with the assisted suicide organization Exit – because she didn't want to subject her loved ones and herself to her fate. And because she still wanted to determine for herself "when it would all end." The decision to die helped her live in her last two years, says her husband. Erica died with dignity, and she can now be "remembered as she truly was." Brigitta Martensson, Executive Director of the Swiss Alzheimer's Association, respects Erica's decision but emphasizes that one can also live with dignity with Alzheimer's disease. Her association is doing everything it can to show those affected alternatives to potential suicide: "Even if there's nothing more that can be done, everything can still be done."