Alice and Ellen Kessler, confirmation on assisted suicide: "They wanted to die together"

Television’s most famous twins, united in life and on stage, have chosen to remain united in death as well, resorting to assisted suicide. “The doctor prepares the infusion, but it must be the patient who opens the valve for the drug to enter the bloodstream. In that final gesture, made voluntarily and simultaneously, the story of Alice and Ellen Kessler comes to a close.

Explaining the details of a long-planned decision is Wega Wetzel, spokesperson for the “Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer humanes Sterben” (Dghs), Germany’s oldest association dedicated to the end of life, who in an interview with Repubblica traced the path that led them to this shared farewell.

“The request went back several years,” Wetzel says. The Kesslers had a single, clear and definitive will: “They wanted to die together.” November 17 would have no symbolic significance, but would merely be the date on which the planned process, made up of verifications and authorizations designed to ensure that the decision was truly an informed one. The German procedure, made possible by a Constitutional Court ruling, is in fact very strict.

The twins were followed by a team of specialists. “First came the visit of the lawyer,” the spokeswoman explains, to ascertain “that the choice had matured over time, that they saw no other solution and that it was completely free.” Then a doctor intervened to rule out psychiatric disorders and confirm that it was a fully autonomous decision.

At the time of death in their Munich home, both the doctor and the attorney who had been following them were present. Before the final act, there was further verification. “They asked the twins if they were aware of what they were about to do and if they really wanted it,” Wetzel says.

A technical test was even performed with a saline solution to check that the device was working. Only after this confirmation did Alice and Ellen go ahead. “They operated the valve themselves and took the lethal dose. In these cases, death occurs immediately, from cardiac arrest.”