Björn Natthiko Lindeblad had it all planned out. At the end of November 2021, the former Buddhist monk gathered 300 people in a seaside restaurant in Gothenburg to celebrate his 60th birthday. There were family, friends and a slew of celebrities.
At the end of the evening, dressed in an embroidered red Chinese jacket, golden pants and sneakers, the speaker and spiritual master went on stage, wedged into his wheelchair. Smiling, he thanked his guests for coming, confided that he had ” a map “ and warned that it was ” the last time “ that he saw most of them.
Björn Natthiko Lindeblad had learned in 2018 that he suffered from Charcot’s disease (or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), an incurable neurodegenerative condition that results in progressive paralysis of the body. On Tuesday January 18, he announced his death himself, in a message written earlier and published on social networks, where he had 150,000 followers: “It happened in the middle of the day, on January 17, in the north of Halland, and I was surrounded by my relatives. I swallowed a smoothie with the usual preparation, then calmly and quietly fell asleep. Without fear or hesitation. I got what I wanted. »
According to the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, who had met him for a final interview, he died at 12:23 p.m. “And then, as he had requested, no one called the police and the emergency services for more than three hours”, specifies the daily. “I made this decision myself, in full possession of my faculties, without having been influenced by anyone,” he said in a letter. The deceased also had his last moments filmed, so that there was no doubt about the circumstances of his death.
A murder investigation against a doctor
In Sweden, the death of Natthiko (his monastic name meaning “one who grows in wisdom”) has reignited discussions around euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. In his message, posted on Facebook and Instagram, the man encouraged those who wanted to honor him to get involved in changing the law: “If you agree with me that, in certain circumstances, it should be possible to have the help of society for a dignified and safe death, speak up. »
In the Nordic country, euthanasia is prohibited. A doctor who administers a lethal substance to a patient, even at his request, can be convicted of murder. On the other hand, the practitioner who prescribes (without administering it) a drug dosed to cause death will not, a priori, be worried by justice even if he risks being struck off the order of doctors.
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