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Death On Request

Death On Request

This gentle but astonishing documentary records Cees de Joode, a Dutch man suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - an incurable degenerative muscle disease better known as 'Lou Gehrig's Disease' -, as he, his wife Antoinette, and his doctor choose euthanasia to end his torment.

In 1993, it became obvious that the illness would swiftly take Cees' life. Already in a wheelchair, his legs and feet paralyzed, unable to move his right shoulder or arm, and almost incapable of speaking, Cees started a journal using his personal computer. He wrote in it 'The possibility of euthanasia has for months been a comforting thought to me. It gets me on my feet again - at least figuratively. Literally, that's totally out of the question. It helps enormously in setting my limits.' He let his doctor know that as his death approached, and his body degenerated further, he wished to choose his time to die.

DEATH ON REQUEST then chronicles the period after which Cees made this decision, the many visits his doctor paid on him and Antoinette, and the actual administration of the lethal injection. When the time comes, the doctor makes a final trip to see his patient 'with lead in his shoes.' Cees toasts their health, sips his last port, and slowly directs his wheelchair to his bed, where he will end his life peacefully, as he wished, with his wife and doctor present.

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