Article content

A terminally ill Calgary woman who suffers from ALS has ended her life in Vancouver with the help of two physicians.

The woman, who cannot be identified because of a court-ordered publication ban, died Monday with her family at her side.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Doctors help terminally ill Calgary woman end her life after court ruling Back to video

“My colleague and I were grateful and honoured to be able to help her,” Dr. Ellen Wiebe, a clinical professor at the University of British Columbia, said in an email to The Canadian Press, adding the woman made the trip from Calgary to Vancouver the same day.

Wiebe is one of a group of doctors who have formed an organization called Hemlock AID to provide B.C. patients with information about and access to assisted death.

She has said she has no qualms about helping patients fulfil their final wish.

“I don’t consider giving someone a good death to be causing harm,” she said late last year. “That’s the main aim of helping somebody at the end of life, to help them have a good death.

“If what they want is to die sooner rather than later and do it comfortably, then that’s a good death for them.”

In a written decision posted online Tuesday, Justice Sheilah Martin said the woman meets the criteria for a constitutional exemption to the law prohibiting physician-assisted suicide.