A still from The Last Moments. The Dignitas nurse holds out the cup containing the lethal drug – Avril Furness
Last week, I died in virtual reality. To be precise, I killed myself by consenting to an assisted suicide at the Swiss clinic Dignitas. As I lay on the hospital bed, a nurse carried in a small plastic glass: water mixed with a lethal drug. “Any last words?” she asked the blonde woman rubbing my leg at the end of the bed.
“Have a safe journey my love,” my virtual partner told me, through tears. “I’ll see you on the other side.”
The room was bare but homely. Behind me, sunlight drifted over green Swiss countryside. In front of me, I could see the glass, a pink straw bent with incongruous cheerfulness over its lip. The nurse held it up. “Are you sure you wish to drink this?” she asked. “You will sleep and you will die?”
Suddenly, on the screen, text flashed up: “Death, is it your right to choose?” It was an ethical question, but it felt like a real choice. I focused my gaze on “Yes.” In that moment, it seemed as if I was opting to die.
The nurse handed me the glass: “Take this and drink it all.” In my ears, I heard the sound of swallowing. My partner leaned forward. “I love you very very much,” she said. Then she began to cry.
Inside the headset, I felt a tear roll down my cheek.
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Source: Wired UK