Elderly woman offered death before care in Canada

An 84-year-old woman was offered euthanasia as a first option in a Canadian A&E.

Miriam Lancaster has spoken out about her horror at being offered Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) for a fractured sacrum, a bone at the base of the spine, in her first conversation with a doctor. Six weeks later, following treatment, she was able to walk her daughter down the aisle at her wedding.

One in 20 deaths in Canada now occur through its MAID programme.

‘I did not want to die’

Miriam shared her experience of being rushed to Vancouver General Hospital after waking up in excruciating pain early last year. She recalled: “Off I went to the Vancouver General Hospital, and I was approached by a young lady doctor. The very first words out of her mouth [were]: ‘We would like to offer you MAID.’

“I was taken aback—that was the last thing on my mind! I just wanted to find out why I was in pain! I did not want to die!”

Four weeks later, she was out of hospital, and in the year since, she has travelled to Cuba, Mexico, and Guatemala.

I met an 84-year-old woman who was offered euthanasia at a Canadian hospital practically upon arrival.

Miriam didn’t want to die. She recovered well and travelled to Cuba, Mexico, and Guatemala.

Stop offering death to people who have adventures to lead! pic.twitter.com/ZjEfSaKmix

— Amanda Achtman (@AmandaAchtman) March 18, 2026

Miriam said she was grateful for the care she subsequently received at the hospital, but that “coming into emergency — a patient is already upset and disoriented and wishing they weren’t there. To give them a decision, a life-terminating decision, when they are in this condition, that’s what I object to.”

Insult to seniors

Her daughter, Jordan, said that it was only after they firmly rejected MAID that treatments were offered: “The doctor said, ‘Well, you could get rehab, but it will be a long road, and it will be very difficult; we don’t know what to expect’”.

Jordan shared how she found it “pretty demeaning”, saying: “Just because someone is 84 does not mean they’re ready to go on the scrap heap of life. It’s an insult to seniors.”

“She was still in emergency; she had not yet been put on the ward. It was as if they didn’t want to put her on the ward. As if she wasn’t worth being treated. Is this what we have come to?”

Out of control

Disability rights campaigner Gabrielle Peters wrote that she was “unsurprised” at Miriam’s experience, adding: “I’m so happy that Miriam told them to get lost.”

However, she stated that patients should not need to be a “spitfire” to avoid death, saying “in my experience the quiet, nice and less confident folks struggle in these situations”.

Canadian journalist Brian Lilley posted on X: “This is unfortunately not shocking, but it should be. MAID is out of control in Canada.”

Dr Ramona Coelho, who sits on Ontario’s MAID death review committee, recently stated in the British Medical Journal: “When death is offered alongside, and sometimes before, comprehensive care, medicine drifts from its commitment to healing and accompaniment through suffering.”