At 9:40 a.m. on the day of his scheduled suicide,
Craig Ewert arrive sat the apartment
where he and Mary are met by Arthur Bernard
and Sylvan Luley of Dignitas.
He begins the process that will lead, within hours,
to his death.
Are you all right?
Okay.
I move you here on the terrace, is all right?
I explain now to you the procedure, hmm?
Okay.
First, I'll give you a drink to support your stomach.
And when you drink that, we have time.
You can wait half an hour, about.
Then, you can take the last medicament.
I have another question, Mr. Ewert.
When you drink the last medicament,
I usually make a video, just of the act of drinking,
so that the Swiss officials that I can see
that you have drunk it yourself and nobody helped you.
Of course, if it's necessary, I can hold the glass,
but you have to drink it yourself.
So, if you don't mind, I’ll make this video,
if you have no objections.
It's not my intent to cause difficulties for anyone.
You are helping me.
But it's you that...you decide, huh?
And you decide when it is time that you want to drink.
Okay.
You can tell me.
We can wait.
We can talk.
You have... I have time the whole day.
It's up to you.
So, it doesn't matter if you drink the first drink,
or if you want to wait.
I might as well.
You take it now, huh?
Okay. I go and prepare it.
Okay.
As I explained, we have a special device
which is meant to switch off the current supply for the...
for the breathing aide.
Yes.
So, if the timer starts,
and it's set to about 45 minutes,
then, after 45 minutes, it will switch off the...
the electricity supply to the breathing aide.
If you want to take the first drink.
NARRATOR: At around 11:00 A.M.,
Craig drinks the medicine that will prepare his stomach
for the lethal sedative to come.
Give me some apple juice.
How does it taste?
Not too bad, huh?
It's not too bad, but I sure wouldn't...
I wouldn't rank it high on my favorites.
You prefer apple juice, huh?
Okay.
I think it might be good if you do a quick rehearsal
where you can activate the switch.
Okay.
The easiest is to press with your fingers.
You have to...I'll hold this for you,
and you have to activate it if you can.
No.
Well, then, the alternative is to bite on it.
Do you think you can handle that?
I can do that.
Okay, well, let's try it.
Okay.
I'll hold it for you.
There we go.
And now, the timer is set on 45 minutes, all right.
I guess I'm mildly curious.
I beg your pardon?
I see that there are settings for 15 minutes, 25 minutes.
Why was 45 minutes chosen?
Well, 45 minutes have been chosen because,
after the drinking the sodium pentobarbital,
you fall asleep, usually around...
within about five minutes.
Sometimes it takes a little bit longer, a little bit shorter,
but usually it's around four or five minutes.
And then, the effects of the sodium pentobarbital
come after usually about half an hour.
Ah, okay.
So, that leaves sufficient time to say,
"Well, sodium pentobarbital worked,"
and death would have occurred if not the breathing aide
would keep you alive, so to say.
Okay, that makes sense to me.
I've learned something new.
Every day, learn something new.
Even in the last moments.
Even in the last day.
Thank you.
No problem.
So, I guess I'm ready for the medicine.
Shall I prepare the medicament, huh?
Yeah.
Okay.
Scratch my left eyebrow.
Ah.
My right eye, underneath.
Ah, thank you.
Okay.
Thanks.
All righty.
I think I see my medicine.
Can I give you a big kiss?
Of course.
Okay. I love you.
I love you, sweetheart.
So much.
Okay.
Have a safe journey, and I'll see you some day.
Are you ready to activate the timer?
I'm ready to activate.
Okay.
Bernard, ready?
Yep.
Okay. Very good.
There we go.
The timer is switched on now, and it's now running.
Mr. Ewert, if you drink this, you are going to die.
Yes.
Ugh.
Ugh, give me some more apple juice.
Please.
Can I have some music?
Music?
Music.
Okay, just a little bit more, it looks like.
Can you drink this?
Yes. All right.
That's all.
(Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony” plays)
Just a little bit.
Thank you.
Safe journey. Have a good sleep.
(Beethoven's Ninth Symphony plays)
Some apple juice, no?
(Beethoven's Ninth Symphony plays)
♪ ♪
(monitor flat lines)
He's gone.
NARRATOR: As required under Swiss law,
Arthur Bernard telephones the police to notify them
of Craig Ewert's suicide.
In a routine procedure
that the Swiss prosecutor did not want filmed,
the authorities conducted brief investigation
and watched the videotape.
After they determined that Craig's suicide
had been voluntary, his body was taken to a crematorium.
The Ewerts had already paid Dignitas about $4,500
to cover the cost of his assisted suicide,
cremation and shipment of his ashes back to Mary.
From her hotel, Mary Ewert phoned her children
and other family members,
and e-mailed close friends to tell them of Craig's death.
If, in some ways, I seem a bit contained,
I think it's because, in a sense,
I lost Craig six months ago, as he was.
And so, with that said, we still had time to talk.
And we talked a lot.
So, in that way, I probably...
we probably had more of one another than, maybe,
in the past.
But, sort of the healthy “life goes on" sort of manner,
that was gone, and I think I was very sad when that happened.
I say I feel his presence.
Now, to some people, that would be like the spirit
hovering or whatever.
I don't know.
But I know that we had a great time together,
and that he left me with a lot of happy memories.
So, where he is is really immaterial.
Someone once said, “He is not completely gone
as long as one person remembers his name."
My love and best wishes to all of you.