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‘I’ve Become A Piece Of Meat’: ALS Sufferer Calls For Euthanasia To Be Allowed In Malta

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A Maltese man suffering from ALS has called for Euthanasia to be allowed in Malta, saying he would rather die while things were still in order rather than waiting for his condition to deteriorate.

“I’ve become a piece of meat, I am telling you, I’m like a piece of meat,” said Joe Xerri in an interview with Insights on TVM.

“I am here, and if someone doesn’t come and help me, I’m stuck here. I can’t turn here, I can’t turn there,” he said pointing to the sides of his bed. “I can barely pick this up, I can’t even move here… what life is this that I am living?”

Under Maltese law, euthanasia is a crime, and anyone caught helping someone end their life can face to 12 years in prison

Joe, who has been living in Dar Bjorn since November 2017, explained how an accident on a ladder had changed his life.

A shocking pain had torn throughout his legs after the accident; then, two weeks later, while in Italy, he lost all feeling in his legs.

He had to undergo tests involving deep shocks in his legs, which “drove him up the wall”.

Eventually, he was diagnosed with ALS – a disease that had taken his father and his brother.

“They tell you to accept the disease. How can I accept this sickness, this sadness, this suffering, so much so that you can’t move. How should I accept this?” he asked.

“They tell you to stay strong and be courageous. What courage?”

Pointing at a picture of Jesus Christ, he said: “It would be better if Jesus just sent a ray towards me” to be healed.

He said he hoped his public cry would reach politicians and stop falling on deaf ears as he wasn’t allowed to take his own life in Malta. He said he was ready to go abroad to a country that offers the service.

“I wouldn’t think twice about it,” Joe said heavily.

However, he pointed out that he needed someone to take him abroad, which would be impossible under Maltese law, because whoever helped him could face criminal charges when they returned.

And while he recognised that life was precious, he pointed to his degraded level of life, where he found it hard to breathe and was forced to wear a mask to subsist.

“This is how I feel: that I don’t have anything else to live for. If I die today, or if I die in six months, it would be better for me to die now, with all my things in order,” he said.

He concluded by thanking ALS hero Bjorn Formosa, who he said was always there for him, and said his situation would be much worse without support from Bjorn and his team.

Do you think euthanasia should be allowed in Malta?

READ NEXT: An Open Letter About Euthanasia, From A Maltese Girl Who Needs It

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

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