A survivor of the 2016 Brussels airport terrorist attack chose euthanasia after six years of mental suffering. Shanti De Corte, 23, was diagnosed with major depression and had constant episodes of panic attacks.
The terrorist attack on Brussels Airport claimed more than 30 lives and injured 300. When the first bomb exploded, Shanti was in the airport departure hall with school friends before a trip to Italy.
Two more explosions were detonated. Shanti, then 17 years old, was able to escape from the scene of the crime unharmed.
She attended a psychiatric hospital for rehabilitation and also took antidepressants. In an interview with Belgian broadcaster VRT, Shanti’s mother, Marielle, said she attempted suicide twice, in 2018 and 2020.
In early 2022, Shanti opted for euthanasia citing “unbearable psychiatric suffering.” The procedure is legal in Belgium.
“That day really broke her, she never felt safe after that,” Marielle said. “She didn’t want to go anywhere other people were out of fear. She also had frequent panic attacks and never got rid of them.”
She died on May 7 following a psychiatric evaluation.
On social media, Shanti spoke openly about mental health. In a post quoted by The Mirror newspaper, she wrote: “I’m on up to 11 antidepressants a day. I couldn’t live without her. With all the meds I’m on, I feel like a ghost that doesn’t feel anything anymore.”
“Maybe there were solutions other than drugs,” he added.
Belgium authorizes euthanasia for persons who are “in a medically hopeless state of chronic and unbearable physical or mental suffering, which cannot be relieved and which is the result of a serious and incurable disorder, caused by illness or accident”.