A controversial suicide pod that enables its occupant to kill themselves
at the press of a button went on display at an Amsterdam funeral show on
Saturday. Called the “Sarco”, short for sarcophagus, the 3D-printed
machine invented by Australian euthanasia activist Philip Nitschke and
Dutch designer Alexander Bannink comes with a detachable coffin, mounted
on a stand that contains a nitrogen canister.
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“The person who wants to die presses the button and the capsule is
filled with nitrogen. He or she will feel a bit dizzy but will then
rapidly lose consciousness and die,” said Nitschke. The Sarco was a
device “to provide people with a death when they wish to die,” Nitschke
said.
The inventors put a model of the device on display, together with a set
of virtual reality glasses to give visitors a true-to-life experience of
what it would be like to sit in the pod, before ultimately pressing the
button.
Nitschke said he aimed to build the first fully functioning pod before
the end of the year.
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After that, the design will be put online as an open-source document for
people to download. “That means that anybody who wants to build the
machine can download the plans and 3D-print their own device,” Nitschke
said.
Asked about the controversy surrounding euthanasia and legal hurdles,
Nitschke said: “In many countries suicide is not against the law, only
assisting a person to commit suicide is. This is a situation where one
person chooses to press a button ... rather than for instance standing
in front of a train.
“I believe it’s a fundamental human right [to choose when to die]. It’s
not just some medical privilege for the very sick. If you’ve got the
precious gift of life, you should be able to give that gift away at the
time of your choosing,” Nitschke said.
Thousands of visitors flocked to the annual Amsterdam funeral fair at
the city’s famous Westerkerk, where all the latest trends in death, such
as biodegradable coffins and a hot-rod funeral hearse were on display.
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But the Sarco drew large crowds, many curious to try out the device’s
chair and virtual reality glasses. iet Verstraaten, 52, from the eastern
Dutch city of Venray, said: “It was really an experience and a strange
thing to see. But very pretty and calm. You see the moon, you see the
sea. It’s very calm.”
Others, however, were not impressed. Rob Bruntink, 52, said: “Well, I
think it’s quite silly. It’s stupid. I don’t get it. I’m not interested
in a real ‘Sarco’. No.” |