By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-22 02:21:07 | Updated at 2026-09-22 03:09:13
58 minutes ago
A Christian grandmother was euthanised under Canada's medical assistance in dying (MAiD) programme - despite being distraught when she was told she would die.
On July 10, Brigitte Stegemann, 83, known affectionately by her family as "GG" or "Oma", was killed in Ontario under the controversial MAiD scheme.
Her family is now seeking answers, alleging she wasn't mentally able to consent to be euthanised.
They say just two days before the procedure, she began crying, saying she had "made a mistake".
Her granddaughter and primary caregiver, Brigitte Kranendonk told the Mail that a year and a half before the euthanasia, her family made the decision to place Mrs Stegemann in a care home as her physical and mental health deteriorated.
Then, in February, she was diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer. Ms Kranendonk said she raised MAiD as an option at the time and remembers her German-born grandmother saying: "No, I don't want that."
Ms Kranendonk added that her grandmother's deep religious beliefs made her instinctually oppose the procedure.
But, in June, after Ms Kranendonk left on a 10-day trip with her husband, the care home told her it would arrange for an assessment for Mrs Stegemann.
By the time she returned from her trip, she learned her grandmother had already undergone her first assessment.
Brigitte Stegemann, 83, and her granddaughter, Brigitte Kranendonk, who is now searching for answers
FAMILY HANDOUT
Sitting in on her second assessment, Ms Kranendonk said her grandmother gave false information about her family, saying she had no siblings when she has 13, and that none were alive - when, in fact, two are.
Ms Kranendonk also said the doctor explained MAiD in "really loose terms, never using the words death or dying".
She said: "She explains MAiD to my grandmother by saying: 'We're going to give you medicine, you're going to feel at peace. And I just want you to know that you won’t have a bowel movement.'"
Ms Kranendonk said her grandmother did not understand what was being said by the doctor, noting that her first language was not English and she was severely hearing-impaired.
The doctor then told the 83-year-old she "won't have any more pain", according to her granddaughter.
Mrs Stegemann said she had 'made a mistake' when directly asked about her death, her granddaughter said
FAMILY HANDOUT
Two days before the procedure, Ms Kranendonk said she directly asked her grandmother: "Do you know that you’re going to die on Friday?"
Mrs Stegemann was "bawling" and "inconsolable" as she said: "I've made a mistake."
Her granddaughter was told her grandmother could "deny" the procedure that morning, but she struggled to determine if the 83-year-old had truly understood what was going to happen.
The care home told Ms Kranendonk her grandmother had signed paperwork consenting to her death, but she alleges she has still not seen the documents, nor has anyone in her family.
On the day of the procedure, Mrs Stegemann died with her hands clasped in prayer and covered in a "phenomenal amount" of her own blood because a nurse failed her initial attempt to connect the IV, Ms Kranendonk claimed.
Britain's second vote on assisted dying was rejected on September 11, with 286 MPs voting against and 270 MPs voting in favour
PA
"No one had ever done MAiD at this residential home before: this was their very first MAiD procedure," she said.
"So I don’t know if they just dropped the ball, because they didn’t know what they were doing."
Mrs Stegemann died within 10 minutes of the procedure starting, her granddaughter said, and it remains unclear if MAiD was responsible for the death.
She is now appealing to the Chief Coroner's Office in Ontario, the Patient Ombudsman and Belleville Police to investigate if what happened was legal.
On September 11, the UK's second vote on assisted suicide was rejected in the House of Commons, with 286 MPs voting against and 270 MPs voting in favour.
