Inside the first Sarco pod suicide: US woman almost immediately pressed the button as she lay down and looked up at the trees and sky… then lost consciousness in two minutes and died after five
The first person to use the Sarco suicide pod got into the device and almost immediately pressed the button to take her own life, its creator has claimed.
The first person to use the Sarco suicide pod got into the device and almost immediately pressed the button to take her own life, its creator has claimed.
The capsule is designed to allow a person inside to push a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber, causing hypoxia and death soon after.
It was set up in a woodland close near a cabin in Merishausen, northern Switzerland, with the pods window allowing its 64-year-old inhabitant to see the trees and sky above her before she died.
It looked exactly as we expected it to look. My guess is that she lost consciousness within two minutes and that she died after five minutes, Dr Philip Nitschke, the pods inventor, told Dutch media.
We saw sudden, small contractions and movements of the muscles in her arms, but she was probably already unconscious by then.
The woman, believed to be a mother-of-two from the American mid-west, had reportedly been suffering with a very serious illness that involves severe pain and had wished to die for at least two years.
After being notified of her death, police swooped on the forest, where they are said to have arrested a director of Swiss firm The Last Resort, two lawyers, and a newspaper photographer who had been taking pictures of the pod.
The first use of Sarco capsule took place in the middle of the forest, according to the creators of the device
The Sarcos inventor Philip Nitschke pictured at a press conference in Zurich on July 17
The Sarco pod, which creators say allows its occupant to push a button and trigger their own death
According to Dutch daily newspaper de Volksrant, which had been following the case, the woman made an oral statement to The Last Resort saying it was her own wish to die.
In the four-minute recording, she reportedly said that she had a death wish for at least two years, ever since she was diagnosed with a very serious illness.
The firm said that she was immune compromised and had been in severe pain.
The womans two sons completely agree that it was her decision to die, according to Volksrant. They are behind me 100 percent, she is reported to have said.
Fiona Stewart, a board member at The Last Resort, said the womans sons had confirmed this in written statements to the company.
The sons are not believed to have been present in Switzerland at the time of their mothers death on Monday.
Nitschke, announced news of the pods premiere on X, saying: An idyllic peaceful death in a Swiss forest where The Last Resort used the Sarco device to help a US woman have the death she wanted.
He added of the arrests in the aftermath: What Swiss police didnt mention was that those arrested included the Director of The Last Resort, two lawyers providing legal assistance to TLR, and a Dutch journalist!!
Volkskrant reported that police detained one of its photographers who wanted to take pictures of the use of the Sarco, but gave no further details.
It said Schaffhausen police had indicated the photographer was being held at a police station but declined to give a further explanation.
According to Last Resort, Willet said the womans death had been peaceful, fast and dignified, taking place under a canopy of trees, at a private forest retreat in the Canton of Schaffhausen close to the Swiss-German border.
Nitschke said that the womans dying process went well and that as soon as she lay down in the Sarco, she almost immediately pressed the button.
She really wanted to die. She didnt say anything anymore, he said.
He added in a statement that his device had performed exactly as it had been designed to do, saying it had provided a non-drug, peaceful death at the time of the persons choosing.
Police, including forensics teams, arrived at the scene after being notified by a legal firm that an assisted suicide with the device had taken place.
The Last Resort, who had anticipated that there would need to be an investigation after the launch of the device, said it had informed the police that it had been used.
Cops seized the Sarco capsule and arrested a number of people in the Merishausen area were taken into police custody.
A post-mortem will now be carried out on the deceased person by the Institute of Legal Medicine Zurich (IRMZ).
Nitschke and Stewart said that the company was acting at all times on the advice of their lawyers.
Fiona Stewart, member of the Last Resort poses next to the Sarco suicide machine in July
The pods work by replacing air, which is 21 per cent oxygen and 79 per cent nitrogen, with 100 per cent nitrogen.
This renders the occupant unconscious and they then stop breathing in a process that its creators expected to take less than ten minutes.
A camera inside the pod records their final moments and the footage is handed to a coroner.
Nitschke and his associates designed Sarco, which is made using a 3-D printer, to be free, with people just paying for their body to be removed by funeral directors.
The woman who used the device only paid the costs for the nitrogen: 18 Swiss francs, according to the Last Resort.
The firm aims to make assisted dying almost completely free of charge, with the cost, which is equal to around £16, contrasting with the fees of most Swiss clinics, which usually charge around £10,000.
The use of the Sarco is free, Stewart said. We dont want to make any money from this.
The woman did have to pay additional costs, such as her cremation, she added.
A view of the Sarco suicide machine, a 3D-printed capsule that gives the user the ultimate control over the timing of her/his death
A view shows the login screen and release button for pure nitrogen in the Sarco suicide machine
A view of 02 detector and the release button for pure nitrogen in the Sarco suicide machine
The device was used on the same day as Swiss Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider told the National Council that she considers the use of the Sarco in Switzerland to be illegal.
The Sarco suicide capsule is not legal in two respects, Baume-Schneider reportedly said.
On one hand, it does not fulfill the demands of the product safety law, and as such, must not be brought into circulation, she said.
On the other hand, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the article on purpose in the chemicals law.
Swiss law allows assisted suicide so long as the person takes his or her life with no external assistance and those who help the person die do not do so for any self-serving motive, according to a government website.
Switzerland is among the few countries in the world where foreigners can travel to legally end their lives, and is home to a number of organizations that are dedicated to helping people kill themselves.
Peter and Christine Scott told the Mail this week that they have made the decision to end their lives at the same time
Some lawmakers in Switzerland have argued that the law is unclear and have sought to close what they call legal loopholes.
Nitschke and Stewart, who are married and have long campaigned for the right to die, have said that they want Sarco to become an established and accessible option for euthanasia.
Some 120 applicants hoping to use the machine to end their lives, according to The Last Resort, with around a quarter of those on the waiting list said to be British people.
Among them are a former RAF engineer and his wife, who revealed to the Mail that they had signed up to become the first couple to use a double suicide pod.
Peter and Christine Scott, who have been married for 46 years, made the decision after former nurse Christine, 80, was recently diagnosed with early-stage vascular dementia.
Like the solo pod, The Last Resort said the two-person pod would be constructed using a 3D printer, and could be ready for use as early as January.
- UK: For help and support, call the Samaritans for free from a UK phone, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org.
- US: If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
