A Canadian family is raising concerns about the nation’s assisted suicide laws, claiming they disproportionately affect individuals with disabilities and mental health issues. This comes after their son, who suffered from seasonal depression, opted for assisted suicide.

Kiano Vafaeian, a 26-year-old blind man living with Type 1 diabetes, passed away in December through Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program. This program permits individuals with ‘grievous and irremediable’ medical conditions to seek a medically assisted death.

In 2021, the eligibility criteria for MAID were broadened to encompass those with chronic illnesses and disabilities. There is ongoing parliamentary discussion about potentially including individuals with specific mental health conditions.

Vafaeian’s struggles with mental health began after a car accident at the age of 17, and his depression was known to worsen during the winter months, according to his mother.

For several years, his family managed to dissuade him from pursuing assisted suicide. However, last year, Dr. Ellen Wiebe, a MAID provider in British Columbia, approved Vafaeian’s request without the family’s knowledge, only informing them days later.

Margaret Marsilla, Vafaeian’s mother from Ontario, has accused Dr. Wiebe of allegedly ‘coaching’ her son on how to meet the criteria as a Track 2 patient, a category for those whose deaths are not considered ‘reasonably imminent,’ as reported by Fox News Digital.

‘We believe that she was coaching him on how to deteriorate his body and what she can possibly approve him for and what she can get away with approving him for,’ Marsilla told the outlet.

Marsilla has since been battling fiercely to undo the Track 2 modification and to support Bill C-218, a legislative effort intended to restrict MAID for those whose only condition is a mental illness. 

Kiano Vafaeian (pictured), a 26-year-old blind man with Type 1 diabetes and mental health struggles, died in December using Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program

His family has accused Canada’s laws of ‘killing the disabled and vulnerable’ with the program

‘We don’t want to see any other family member suffer, or any country introduce a piece of legislation that kills their disabled or vulnerable without appropriate proper treatment plans that could save their lives,’ Marsilla told Fox.

At 17, a severe car accident derailed Vafaeian’s college plans, and he spent years moving between family members’ homes, his mother said. 

It all came to a head in 2022: after losing vision in one eye, he became ‘obsessed’ with the assisted-suicide program. 

‘He kept on emphasizing about how he could get approved,’ Marsilla told the outlet. 

‘We never thought there would be a chance that any doctor would approve a 22- or 23-year-old at that time for MAID because of diabetes or blindness.’

That year, Vafaeian attempted to die under the program for the first time after being approved, even going so far as to schedule a time, date and location for the procedure in Toronto. 

But the plan unraveled when his mother accidentally discovered the appointment email and called the doctor, posing as a woman inquiring about MAID. She also took to social media to publicly voice her opposition. 

She taped the conversation with the doctor and sent it to a reporter. The doctor then postponed the procedure over the outcry and decided not to go through with it. 

Dr Ellen Wiebe (pictured), a MAID provider in British Columbia, approved Vafaeian’s death. His mother, Margaret Marsilla of Ontario, alleged that Wiebe was ‘coaching’ her son on how to qualify as a Track 2 patient

Marsilla has been battling fiercely to undo the Track 2 modification and to support Bill C-218, a legislative effort intended to restrict MAID for those whose only condition is a mental illness 

Marsilla said her son was initially angry, insisting she had ‘violated’ his right to choose death, but she told Fox that he began improving quickly the next year and even moved back in with the family in 2024. 

‘He tried his best when he was in one of those good highs of life,’ she told the outlet.

‘Then winter, fall started coming around, he started changing and then everything that we had worked for from spring and summertime just disappeared… he would start talking about MAID again.’

Nevertheless, Marsilla said her relationship with her son had been improving, and in September she moved him into a fully furnished Toronto condo with a live-in caregiver. 

Vafaeian texted his mother that he was ‘looking forward to a new chapter,’ explaining that he was trying to save money so they could travel together. By October, he’d joined a gym and completed 30 personal training sessions. 

Soon, however, he walked away from it all, with his mother saying that ‘something snapped in his head.’ 

Vafaeian checked into a luxury Mexican resort on December 15, posting photos with staff. Two nights later, he flew to Vancouver – and three days after that, he texted his mother that his physician-assisted suicide was scheduled for the next day. 

He ultimately turned to Dr Wiebe after being rejected by several other doctors. She divides her medical practice between MAID and reproductive care, including abortion, contraception and delivering newborns. 

His death certificate lists the ‘antecedent causes’ of his assisted suicide as blindness, severe peripheral neuropathy. His parents said his medical records did not back up the claim that ‘severe peripheral neuropathy’ was a qualifying factor (Pictured: the rejection letter)

Marsilla argued that doctors can approve and carry out euthanasia on Track 2 patients in just 90 days under the current system and claimed it’s ‘not safe’ 

She went ahead with Vafaeian’s procedure, news of which reached his parents only days later. They said they were never notified that Wiebe had even given approval, according to Fox.

‘This whole process came to us as a shock,’ Joseph Caprara, Vafaeian’s stepfather, told the outlet. 

Vafaeian’s death certificate now lists the ‘antecedent causes’ of his assisted suicide as blindness, severe peripheral neuropathy – nerve damage outside the brain and spinal cord that causes pain and numbness – and diabetes. 

But his parents said his medical records did not back up the claim that ‘severe peripheral neuropathy’ was a qualifying factor for his assisted suicide. 

‘Realistically, safeguards for patients would be reaching out to their family members, giving them a whole bunch of different treatment options,’ Marsilla told Fox.

She argued that doctors can approve and carry out euthanasia on Track 2 patients in just 90 days under the current system. 

‘How is that safe for patients?’ she added.

Following her son’s death, Marsilla took to social media to recount his story, calling the situation ‘disgusting on every level.’ 

The doctor went ahead with Vafaeian’s procedure, news of which reached his parents only days later. They said they were never notified that Wiebe had even given approval 

Canada has one of the highest rates of medically assisted deaths in the world, 5.1 percent, or a total of 16,499 deaths in 2024 

‘Four years ago, here in Ontario, we were able to stop his euthanasia and get him some help,’ the mother wrote in a Facebook post.

‘He was alive because people stepped in when he was vulnerable and not capable of making a final, irreversible decision,’ she added.

‘This is not healthcare. This is a failure of ethics, accountability, and humanity. No parent should ever have to bury their child because a system – and a doctor – chose death over care, help or love.’

In an interview with the Free Press, Wiebe joked that she had brought more than 1,000 babies into the world while also helping ‘more than 500 patients die.’

She also described assisted suicide as ‘the best work I’ve ever done.’

‘I have a very strong, passionate desire for human rights,’ Wiebe explained. ‘I’m willing to take risks for human rights as I do for abortion.’ 

When she was then asked how she determines whether a patient is eligible for MAID, she said they ‘have long, fascinating conversations about what makes their life worth living – and now you make the decision when it’s been enough.’ 

On Monday, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill adults, making New York the 13th state, plus D.C., to enact such a law. The legislation will go into effect in six months. 

Canada has one of the highest rates of medically assisted deaths in the world, 5.1 percent, or a total of 16,499 deaths in 2024.

Daily Mail has reached out to Dr Ellen Wiebe for comment.