Part 2: When your parents choose to die – a son’s story

On 03 June, 2024 Jan and Els – a Dutch couple, married for almost five decades – died by lethal injection administered by doctors. Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands if someone is suffering unbearably with no prospect of improvement, and their request is voluntary. Els was living with dementia. Jan was in constant pain. Duo-euthanasia, two people dying together, is still rare. But every year there are more applications from Dutch people who’ve decided they want to leave this world together.

Linda Pressly met Jan and Els three days before they were driven to the hospice where they would end their lives. The man at the wheel on that sunny Monday morning was their much-loved only child, Bas. He had tried to persuade his parents to delay their deaths, but ultimately, he supported them through the euthanasia process – the applications, meetings with doctors, and then their deaths, hand in hand on hospital beds.

In the aftermath of his mum and dad’s demise, the enormity of what had happened hit Bas. He became an orphan in an instant, and had no siblings to share his grieving with.

For Assignment, in the second of a two-part series, Linda returns to the Netherlands to meet Bas – what happens when your parents choose to die? This is Bas' story.

A warning: some listeners might find the content of this documentary upsetting.

Producer / presenter: Linda Pressly
Sound mix: James Beard
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Penny Murphy

(Image: Bas as a child, boating with his parents Jan and Els. Credit: family handout)