Dr. Philip Nitschke, aka “The Death Doctor,” was the first doctor to administer a legal lethal injection shot in 1996. Now, fast-forward a decade to when he invented Sarco, the machine that helps people die. (1)
Sarco: The Machine That Helps People Die Peacefully
To say that euthanasia is controversial is an understatement. In countries around the world, some believe people should have the right to die; others strongly disagree. Even those who do agree with lethal injection disagree on who qualifies and where to draw the line.
For those in favor of the right to die, the common thought is that it should only be left to the terminally ill. This was Dr. Nitschke’s opinion, too, until he met a woman who said she planned to die at 80. She was not depressed by any means, and she was highly educated. She had just decided that 80 was a beautiful age to leave the Earth behind.
According to her, it was her right and that it wasn’t anyone’s place, including his, to judge her for it. He then also had the experience of watching his mom spend her last days in a nursing home. She was not sick. She was just simply unable to stay in her own home due to her age.
“She hated it there and wanted to die. But she wasn’t sick, so she didn’t qualify for anything,” he recalled. “I couldn’t give her anything either, because everyone would have known I was behind it. Knowing that she had a choice would have been a tremendous consolation for her.”
This is what prompted him to create Sarco, a machine that helps people die peacefully, whenever they’re ready to do so.
How Sarco Works
Sarco is a 3D-printable pod that uses liquid nitrogen. When the user gets inside, the nitrogen starts flowing. As oxygen levels decrease, CO2 levels stay the same. (2) After one and a half minutes, the person will feel similar when they are tipsy after having a few drinks. A couple of minutes later, they lose consciousness, and within about five minutes, they pass away.
On the website, they say that Sarco creates “the conditions for a peaceful, even euphoric death.” (2)
Other features of Sarco include:
- The option between a dark or transparent view
- An emergency window that opens when you click against it
- A stop button
The last two are that if the person inside changes their mind, they have the freedom to do so until they lose consciousness. There is no way to operate the machine from the outside, so someone can’t kill another person using Sarco.
Furthermore, all hopeful users must pass a mental capacity test before using, and anyone under the age of 50 is automatically ineligible.
The Right To Die Peacefully
Dr. Nitschke believes that all people, regardless of whether or not they are terminally ill, should have the right to choose when they day if that’s what they want.
“The most common argument is that there is no such thing as rational suicide and that a death wish is, per definition, the result of a psychiatric illness. I reject that idea. Someone’s death wish isn’t something that needs to be treated, per se.” he says. (1)
He believes that there are many people for whom life has become a burden rather than a gift, and it doesn’t necessarily have to do with their mental health. Perhaps they’ve lived their whole life with a debilitating disease, have been essentially bedridden for years but are not terminal, or they have become paralyzed and can no longer live life on their own terms.
As for his own death, when the time comes, he does have an ideal place where he’d like to go.
“I’d go back to the northern part of Australia and put my Sarco in the desert,” he says. “During the sunset, that sounds nice.” (1)
If you are struggling with a mental health issue in the USA, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
In Canada, call 833-456-4566 or text START to 74174. You can also visit suicideprevention.ca for more information on how to get help.
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