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Former boss of the capital’s football club, Paris Saint Germain and the encrypted channel Canal +, Charles Biétry has been affected for several years by Charcot’s disease. He has just mentioned his death in an interview and explains that he made the choice of assisted suicide in Switzerland.
While in France, the debate and exchanges on active assistance in dying were at the heart of the news because of the conclusions made by the Citizens’ Convention on the end of life, the sports journalist Charles Biétry confides in an interview granted in the Journal L’Equipe that he has chosen to resort to assisted suicide, when the time comes.
“No longer suffer” or “make his family suffer”
To explain his choice, Charles Bietry is clear: affected by Charcot’s disease for five and a half years, diagnosed only last summer, he does not want to “suffer” or “make his family suffer”. And if he does not have the desire to end it for the moment, at 79, he has already organized everything.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a disease that causes progressive paralysis
Indeed, Charles Bietry has no illusions about his future. Charcot’s disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is a degenerative disease that results in progressive paralysis of the muscles involved in voluntary motor function. The disease also affects speech and swallowing.
Once diagnosed, life expectancy is five years on average. Generally, the attack of the respiratory muscles causes the death of the patients. “I don’t want to be plugged into a machine to breathe when there is nothing left, no future” insists the former media figure. As assisted suicide is still not legal in France – Emmanuel Macron promises a law for this summer – Charles Biétry confides that he “registered in Switzerland” and that “all the papers are signed “.
Keep fighting no matter what
Although everything is ready for him, arriving at assisted suicide remains a milestone that will be difficult to pass, concedes the journalist. “You have to take the last pill yourself. This gesture, it’s easy to say “I’m going to do it” when I’m at the seaside in Carnac (where he lives editor’s note). When someone hands you the pill and tells you that two minutes later you’ll be dead, it’s not that simple. But in any case, everything is ready” he continues.
If he has put all the necessary provisions in place, Charles Biétry wants to continue to fight against his illness. Despite the advice of his doctors, he continues to play sports. “To keep my spirits up, I need sport. The day when I can no longer ride a bikeit will go very quickly” he still acknowledges, explaining that it is this practice that has slowed the progression of his disease.