For Verkroost, the reasons to end his life seem compelling. He was born with epidermolysis bullosa (EB), an incurable condition that causes external and internal skin blisters. He has undergone 61 surgeries, including one in 2009 to amputate three fingers. He has skin cancer that can only be cut away, and it’s spreading. One of his hands has scarred into what he calls a “permanent fist.” The other cancerous hand lives in a bandage.

Every day begins with hours of skin care and personal care with the help of an aide.

“Socks and buttons are my weak points,” he told Al Jazeera.

It is not all bad. Verkroost is able to gets around his Amsterdam apartment by scooting about on a chair with small wheels. He texts, he types, he talks on the phone. All the while, though, he is in great pain.

Born into a life physically defined by EB, Verkroost said he has managed his struggles with generous doses of dark humor and medical marijuana.

But he’s had enough.

Since the amputation of his fingers — whose cremated remains fill a small porcelain container in his living room — he’s spiraled downward physically and emotionally.

Although he has many friends, his world has grown smaller. He said he is lonely, and he longs for someone to love.

“Love would be the only reason to keep on fighting,” he said. Without love, his life has “become hopeless and unbearable,” and he simply doesn’t want to live beyond 2014.