Featured Image Credit: Exit International
Topics: Health, World News, Mental Health
Mia Williams
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
The creator of the ‘suicide pod’ has been accused of ‘glamorising’ the act of taking your life, after the first person is set to use the contraption next week.
The ‘suicide pod’, which promises to offer a painless death that can take place within 10 minutes of entering, is set to have it’s first use next week.
For those who haven’t heard about the latest contraption, the Sarco pod is a 3D-printed capsule which has been described as the 'Tesla of euthanasia’.
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And despite the technological advances, the creators have been accused of ‘glamorising’ suicide, and could be in a serious bit of legal trouble.
Dr Philip Nitschke - who has been dubbed 'Dr Death' - revealed that the first patient was set to use it next week in a post shared on an online forum on 10 June, explaining it would take place in Switzerland 'in the next few weeks'.
And what’s interesting, is that the 76-year-old medic has said the pod can be towed anywhere in the world.
Talking about the controversial pods, he said: “It can be in an idyllic outdoor setting or on the premises of an assisted-suicide organisation, for example.”
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And he says he intends to bring them to the UK.
Swiss media have reported that the pods are ready to be rolled out for use, but public prosecutor Peter Sticher warned that anyone assisting a patient to use the pods could face up to five years behind bars.
According to Nitschke, who is the founder of the pro-euthanasia group Exit International, which made the contraption, the Sarco pod works by flooding the chamber with nitrogen, reducing oxygen levels so rapidly that the individual quickly loses consciousness.
They experience this within the first minute, and will have a 'peaceful, reliable, and drug-free' death within 10 minutes.
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The team at Exit International have even made sure the Sarco pods can be activated via voice control and eye movement for those who have very severe illnesses and mobility issues which means they cannot vocally communicate.
The pods, activated via a button, blink or gesture, also have an emergency button and escape route in case users change their mind.
The seemingly fool-proof death machine has come under a lot of fire, as Sticher said: “There is no reliable information about the method of killing.
“[It is] completely unclear who has control over which mechanical process during the dying process.”
Swiss law and Article 115 of the penal code, states that individuals can assist in another person's suicide as long as the motive for doing so is not 'selfish' - but this is the exact word that Sticher used to describe Nitschke's motivations behind creating the pod.
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If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.