Image Credit: karlsbergggg / TikTok screenshot 
(LifeSiteNews) — A video of a 7-year-old girl sharing a “final cuddle” with her great-grandfather before he is euthanized has gone viral on TikTok, racking up millions of views.
@karlsbergggg Sobbing 😭 #MAID #medicallyassisteddeath #grandpasgirl #greatgrandpa #greatgrandparents ♬ original sound – ꨄ
The video shows the child curled up next to an elderly man, sitting straight on the couch, their final moments together captured. “This is my 96 year old grandpa with my 7 year old,” the caption reads. “He’s doing MAiD [Medical Assistance in Dying] soon. I tried explaining gently to my daughter that this was the last visit she’d have with him. This is what she did the second she walked in. He’s so happy.”
Karly Vavra, the little girl’s mother, told People that she chose to share the video in order to honor her grandfather – but also to normalize assisted suicide. “The feeling is very bittersweet,” she said. “I look back with smiles and tears.” She admitted that she knows “my daughter didn’t fully understand these were her last moments with him.”
Her grandfather, who had chosen assisted suicide, did understand the gravity of the moment. “My grandpa knew those were his last moments with her,” Vavra said. “Him looking down in that short moment, I believe, was his way of trying to hide emotions as he was a very proud man.” Her grandfather was scheduled to be killed by lethal injection just days later.
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Vavra says her grandfather was always a favorite of neighborhood children, who were drawn to him. “I am so grateful both my kids got to know him, though, as not many children get [much] time, if any, with a great grandparent,” she said. “My grandpa was honestly the sweetest man. He loved children, gardening, golf, music and was VERY opinionated … Him and my kids were always laughing with each other, and he loved how loud and proud my daughter was! I hope she is strong like he was and always laughs and sees the brighter side.”
Vavra posted the video because she wanted to celebrate her grandfather’s assisted suicide. “I posted this because I truly believe MAiD can be a wonderful thing,” she told People. “Letting people go the way they want, with dignity, and not suffering … A lot of religions don’t believe in MAiD and some comments were more aggressive than others. Seeing how negative some of the responses were made me really want to advocate for the MAiD program.”
“Her connection to MAiD began long before her own grandparents made their decisions, as she previously worked on a case in British Columbia after she says many of her coworkers opted not to participate,” People reported.
“I am a very open, understanding person and believe in ‘your body your choice’ which is why I volunteered,” she says ... This year alone brought unimaginable loss for her family. “My parents and aunt have had a harder time because both their mom and dad decided to do MAiD this year, so it’s definitely been a rough year, but we are sticking together as a family and really trying to cherish all our moments together,” Karly shares.
There are over 10,000 comments on Vavra’s TikTok video, many of them expressing horror at the normalization of putting elderly people to sleep like sick household pets.
“I always try to be honest with my children,” Vavra said. “I explained that Big Papa (what my kids called him) was in a lot of pain and that he would be going to meet Big Grandma on Saturday (my grandma also did MAiD this year). I explained that a very nice doctor and nurses were coming and they were going to give him some medicine and he would fall into the best sleep ever but forever, and that he wouldn’t be in pain anymore.”
It is notable that despite the irreligious basis of assisted suicide, spiritual language is often incorporated into euthanasia conversations in order to soften the reality of what is taking place.
This is a new Canadian reality: Children losing their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents not to natural death, but to lethal injections. Their goodbyes are defined by moments that do not have to be the last but have been chosen. There could have been more conversations. More cuddles. More love. But there was not – and that was a decision. “Seeing her link arms with him was very touching but of course very painful,” Vavra said. “Both loving each other so much. I wish we could have had him forever.”
They could have had him longer.
