Revealed: US woman due to be the first person to die in ‘suicide capsule’ has now died in Switzerland ‘by other means’ after ‘going missing’, as heartbroken friends say ‘her loss makes the world a little darker’
An American woman believed to be the first person to die in a “suicide capsule” before she disappeared has now died in a different way, her friends have revealed.
Jennifer McLaughlin, 55, had traveled to Switzerland to use the “Sarco” pod, which its creators claim allows the occupant to press a button and trigger their own death.
But the pod’s inventor, controversial euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke, said her planned death had been “permanently postponed”.
Despite this, Ms McLaughlin emailed her lawyer and her closest friends to tell them she would be undergoing a “procedure” to end her life.
She She then disappeared, with friends desperately trying to contact her. Her disappearance was reported to police, before her death was confirmed last night.
It is believed she sought help from another euthanasia organization.
Jennifer McLaughlin, 55, had travelled to Switzerland to use the ‘Sarco’ capsule to commit suicide before she was denied use of the machine
The ‘Sarco’ pod, whose creators say the occupant can press a button and cause his own death
The former insurance company employee from Columbus, Georgia, suffered “serious health problems” in 2017, and her attorney said she “never really recovered.”
Lawyer Fife Whitehouse, who has been a friend and legal adviser to Ms McLaughlin for 15 years, paid a moving tribute to her after hearing the “painful” news.
‘[Jennifer] ‘He was a wonderfully idiosyncratic, articulate and intelligent person, someone you find hard to forget,’ he told MailOnline.
“She was one of those people that you feel like the world has gotten a little darker for her loss. It saddens all of us who knew her.”
Ms McLaughlin spent three months in hospital in 2017, he said, and a few years later she lost her beloved mother, who had been by her side through her ill health.
The US Embassy in Switzerland confirmed in a statement on Monday evening that Ms McLaughlin had died in the country.
She reportedly died on Friday after receiving help from a Swiss euthanasia organization, but it was not Exit International, the company behind Sarco.
It is not known when Ms McLaughlin decided to commit suicide, but she travelled to Switzerland earlier this summer with the intention of becoming the first person to use the Sarco-pod.
Jennifer McLaughlin was photographed in Switzerland before her death this month
The machine, whose name is derived from the sarcophagus, is intended to allow the euthanasia patient inside to press a button and die “within seconds,” according to Nitschke’s company Exit International.
The capsule, which looks like something out of a science fiction film and has been compared to a Tesla, is filled with nitrogen to deprive its occupants of oxygen, causing the patient to become unconscious before dying.
In early July, reports emerged that the first patient would use the device within a month, but Exit and subsidiary The Last Resort later held a press conference saying it would happen “within a year.”
Prospective users must complete an online survey before being given a pod’s location and an access code, similar to a mailbox for deliveries.
Australian euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke (pictured), also known as ‘Dr Death’, is a former physician and head of the voluntary euthanasia campaign Exit International
They then confirm in the capsule who they are, where they are and whether they know what happens when they press the button.
If they continue, a flood of nitrogen reduces oxygen levels from 21 percent to just one percent, reportedly killing them within 30 seconds.
Nitschke said he designed the Sarco to create a “peaceful, reliable, drug-free” method of euthanasia
“Death occurs from hypoxia and hypocapnia, respectively oxygen and carbon dioxide deficiency. There is no panic, no suffocation,” he claimed, insisting that the capsule had been thoroughly tested.
He has even said that he will “probably use the Sarco” in his final days, rather than “be in a miserable state while he is seriously ill.”
Swiss prosecutors have previously warned that anyone who helps someone use the pods could face a prison sentence of up to five years.
Public prosecutor Peter Sticher of the canton of Schaffhausen warned of “serious consequences” for Nitschke because of “incitement and complicity in suicide for selfish reasons.”
Sticher wrote in a letter obtained by Swiss media: ‘There is no reliable information about the method of murder.
‘[It is] completely unclear who has control over which mechanical process during the dying process.’
The doctor’s plans to use Sarco for the first time also sparked outrage from pro-life organizations.
James Mildred, director of engagement at CARE, said: ‘Philip Nitschke’s device has been condemned by a wide range of commentators.
‘Many people feel that this trivializes or even glorifies suicide.
We believe that suicide is a tragedy that good societies try to prevent under all circumstances.
“There are ethical ways to help people that do not destroy lives.”
- For help and support you can call the Samaritans free from a UK phone line, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.