There’s a story going around, first reported by the Daily Mail, about an 83-year-old Canadian grandmother from Ontario who was “euthanized against her will.”
First, I hate that phrase, because it’s just a fancy way of saying “murdered by the state.”
Second, this is just her family’s account. Police are investigating. But I have no trouble believing this at all given my own history with my mom and some aspects of the medical profession I encountered, but more on that shortly. Let’s get to the story first.
Up until July 10, 2026, Brigitte Stegemann was a devout Christian woman who resided at The Pearl, a long-term care home in Cannifton, Ontario. Known as “GG” or “Oma,” she was beloved by her family. Sadly, she’d been diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer.
Her granddaughter, Brigitte Kranendonk, had been her caregiver for 12 years, and her medical power of attorney for six. She said that despite her grim diagnosis, her grandmother had rejected Canada’s controversial Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) because it went against her religious beliefs. Her family supported her choice.
But at some point, Kranendonk went out of town, and when she returned, she found out that her grandmother had been booked for a MAiD assessment. Her family had not been notified. The granddaughter sat in on one assessment and said that the doctors never really used the words “death” or “dying,” opting instead for “peace” or “medicine” or telling her she wouldn’t be in any pain.
Kranendonk says her grandmother had hearing problems. She also noted that German was her first language. Even worse, she was given a cognitive test and was unable to answer simple questions about her life. For example, she couldn’t remember how many siblings she had and which ones were still alive. Despite all of this, the doctors involved said she signed the consent forms and approved her for euthanasia.
Her family never saw the forms or witnessed Stegemann consenting to anything of the sort. Days before the scheduled procedure, Kranendonk even asked her grandmother if she understood she was going to die. She said the older woman cried and said it was all a mistake.
But it was apparently too late. The state had her in its claws. The medical staff even tried to do it earlier than planned because it had an opening… like an appointment for a haircut or something. But the family intervened. They wanted their pastor present.
On July 10, the family and the pastor gathered, and a nurse came in to start an IV. Kranendonk says the nurse botched it several times, leaving blood on her grandmother’s hands, arms, sheets, and nightgown. She says the nurse did not even wear gloves. Shortly after, a doctor came in and asked Stegemann if it was okay to give her the “medicine.” The grandmother didn’t answer. Ten minutes later, she died, her bloody hands clasped in prayer.
Kranendonk claims she did everything she could to try to stop it, but she said the staff at the home treated her like an obstacle and claimed she was “abrasive and defensive.” I mean, I would be too if they were killing my grandmother without consent. She also said that she was not aware that she could seek a legal injunction.
It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes of this, but it reminds me of a situation with my own mom. As I’ve written about many times, she spent her final weeks in the hospital, mostly alone due to draconian COVID restrictions. She was on dialysis at the time. They’d also given her a feeding tube because she was weak and they were afraid she would choke on food or beverages.
So, one glorious day, they called my dad and me and told us that my mom had refused any further treatment and had consented to hospice care. They also told us that if her heart stopped, she told them not to resuscitate her. We were shocked. My mom had been through so much medical stuff over the previous 10 or so years that I knew these were not her wishes. I’d been with her through dozens of procedures, appointments, and hospital stays. She did not want to die. I argued with these people over the phone, and they finally let me come up there.
As a nurse was taking me back to her room, a hot-headed young doctor passed, and the nurse told her why we were there. That doctor got in my face and more or less called me a liar. “Your mother said what she said. I was in the room and heard her.” Then she made a sound as if my advocating for my mother’s life disgusted her and walked on.
When we got to the room, there was a nephrologist in there who told me that he’d convinced my mom to have dialysis. He said she wasn’t refusing treatment; she was saying she wanted to go home and have it at her regular clinic. My mom looked embarrassed, but she admitted that’s what happened. We also found out she’d woken up and pulled the feeding tube out because she didn’t know what it was. I explained to her that these people were making all of this out to be her “refusing treatment,” and she was going to have to be on her best behavior going forward because I couldn’t be there to advocate for her.
I also asked her if she had refused resuscitation. She looked horrified and said no. She had misunderstood the young, hot-headed doctor. She was asking about CPR and ventilators. My mom thought they were telling her they were going to do all of that to her right then and there, and she knew she didn’t need it in that moment. She didn’t realize they were asking about the future. The nurse who was present even said she now could see why she thought that and told the doctor, who was alarmingly angry about having to reverse those orders.
So I can’t tell you if the Canadian grandmother’s story is true or not, but my own experience gives me enough reason to believe her granddaughter. They will kill you off if you’re not careful.
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