Couple choose 'duo-euthanasia' after being married for nearly five decades

Amid the ongoing debate surrounding an individual's rights to end their life on their own terms, a couple married for almost five decades died together via euthanasia earlier this month in a rare occurrence.

Dutch duo Jan Faber and Els van Leeningen were voluntarily given lethal medication by two doctors back in June.

In the months prior, 71-year-old Els had been diagnosed with dementia, which had caused her health to deteriorate to such an extent that she was struggling to form sentences together.

Speaking to the BBC three days prior to their deaths, she explained while pointing to her body, "This is very good," before pointing to her head and declaring: "But this is terrible."

The duo met in kindergarten as children and enjoyed a life-long partnership, living on a lifeboat in the Netherlands before going on to purchase a cargo boat and developing a business transporting goods.

The couple lived their lives on the water before moving into a campervan. (Maskot/Getty)

In recent years, however, they traded their riverboat house in for a campervan, with a back surgery 70-year-old Jan underwent in 2003 not improving his ailing heath - and painkillers inefficient in managing his agony.

Since then, the couple had talked sporadically about the prospect of euthanasia, something which is legal, but rare, in the Netherlands.

In the years that followed, Els began showing signs of dementia and retired from teaching in 2018.

Despite her symptoms, she admits she was reluctant to see a doctor, having witnessed her own father's rapid health decline after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She was officially diagnosed in 2022.

The couple subsequently joined the NVVE - the Netherlands’ 'right to die' organisation.

"If you take a lot of medicine, you live like a zombie," Jan said. "So, with the pain I have, and Els’ illness, I think we have to stop this."

Both euthanasia and assisted suicide can occur in the Netherlands in the individual makes a voluntary request.

Els was diagnosed with dementia in November 2022. (Olga Rolenko/Getty)

Their agony - either physical or mental - also has to be considered 'unbearable' with no prospect of improvement by two doctors.

One potential complication was that Els' dementia was approaching the territory where her sound-mindedness to make such a decision would be called into question.

Asked if they ever considered they were taking their lives too soon, Els replied: "No, no, no. I cannot see it."

Jan added: "I’ve lived my life, I don’t want pain anymore."

The duo were eventually given the go-ahead to end their lives.

The day before they were due to pass away, Jan and Els spent the day with their son and grandchildren at their campervan.

The couple had to be assessed by two doctors. (RUNSTUDIO/Getty)

"I went for a walk on the beach with my mum," their son explained. "The kids were playing, there were some jokes… It was a very strange day.

"I remember we were having dinner in the evening, and I got tears in my eyes just watching us all having that final dinner together."

On 3 June, Jan and Els' wider family joined them at their local hospice to say goodbye.

"We had two hours together, before the doctors came. We spoke about our memories… And we listened to music," the son explained.

"The final half hour was difficult. The doctors arrived and everything happened quickly - they follow their routine, and then it’s just a matter of minutes."

Asked about his parents' campervan home, he admitted he was holding out from selling it for a while, adding: "First I want to make some memories for the family."