Boyfriend of physically healthy Dutch woman who revealed her desire to end her life by euthanasia on her 34th birthday pays heartbreaking tribute to his ‘sweet Jolanda’: ‘No more pain’

The boyfriend of a physically healthy Dutch woman who revealed she was going to end her own life by euthanasia on her 34th birthday has paid a heartbreaking tribute to her, wishing her ‘no more pain’ and saying that he will ‘always’ love her.

Jolanda Fun revealed this month that she hopes to become the latest person in The Netherlands to receive a doctor-assisted death, saying that despite the love of her partner, family and friends, she is in ‘constant pain’ due to mental health struggles.

On April 25, the day she planned her death for, her partner Peter Silvius wrote a touching message to her on Facebook. ‘Sweet Jolanda,’ he said, ‘This is your day, the day of your birthday and the day your wish comes true, a day with two sides.

‘Will miss you a lot as you start your final journey to a place where you will find your peace and have no more pain. Love you, you always in my heart have a good last journey and see you later xx’

The 34-year-old replied to her loved one with kissing emojis and a short message saying ‘Thnkx darling’. She has not posted since and it is unclear whether she went ahead with her planned death.

Earlier this month in an interview with The Sunday Times, Jolanda revealed she was in a relationship with a 51-year-old man who ‘knew from the beginning that this would be coming.’ 

‘But he really wants to have a good time together, and he still wants to,’ she added, admitting that the situation was ‘confusing’. 

Shortly after making the post addressed to Jolanda, Peter shared a short clip from an Instagram quotes page in what appeared to be another touching tribute to her.

The meaningful text read: ‘I’ve never loved anyone like I love you. I cry over you.

‘No matter what you do, I cannot fall out of love with you. I cannot bring myself to forget you.

It went on: ‘I’ve never missed anyone as much as I miss you. No one in this world means to me as much as you do.’

Peter’s Facebook page was updated in January to show the couple’s relationship. 

Jolanda has been preparing for her death for some time, even printing funeral invites which read: ‘Born from love, let go in love… After a hard-fought life, she chose the peace she so longed for.’

The physically healthy young woman said she made assisted dying her goal since she discovered from a psychiatrist two years ago that Dutch law allows for euthanasia for psychiatric reasons.

Jolanda faced mental health issues from the age of seven, struggling with an eating disorder, depression, autism and mild learning difficulties.

She said in an interview this month that she would rather her life end peacefully instead of attempting suicide herself.

Despite having her family, friends and a small dog, she said she hides what she feels inside, describing it as ‘dark, overstimulation, chaos in my head, loneliness.’

She added that her decision that she wanted to ‘step out of life’ was also impacted by her mother and father being sick and ‘fighting to stay alive’.

Jolanda described what made her decide she wanted to end her life by euthanasia, calling it a ‘dignified death’ which allows a person’s loved ones to be there.

‘The rules are very strict,’ she said of her decision and the long road to her wish being granted. ‘You don’t just get euthanasia, there’s a whole journey.’

The Netherlands’ top Euthanasia clinic, the Expertisecentrum Euthanasie, reportedly denied a request to handle Jolanda’s case last month.

However, after finding a psychiatrist who would carry it out, and receiving the approval of a third specialist doctor just over two weeks ago, her case met the threshold which allows assisted dying to go ahead under Dutch law.

Figures show that 138 people suffering with mental health issues were euthanized in 2023 – making up 1.5 percent of euthanasia cases in the Netherlands that year.

The Netherlands is one of only three countries in the EU where the practice of assisted dying is legal, with rights groups arguing it gives people battling terminal illness or crippling disease the right to end their suffering humanely. 

Data revealed that 8,720 people in the Netherlands ended their lives via euthanasia in 2022 – an increase of 14 per cent on the year before.

This rose again in 2023 to 9,068, with the number of reported cases increasing fourfold between 2005 and 2023. 

The 2022 figure represented 5.1 per cent of all deaths in the country – but the actual number could be much higher given that research suggests around 20 per cent of euthanasia deaths are not reported, according to Dutch media. 

No scientific research has been carried out to establish a reason for the dramatic increase in people opting to euthanize themselves, according to the Netherlands Regional Monitoring Committees (RTE) that track the deaths. 

Under Dutch laws, a person wishing to end their life on mental health grounds must meet six conditions.

They must be mentally competent, have a long-standing wish for euthanasia, the decision must be made under their own volition, they must have been informed of all alternative treatments, and there can be no other reasonable solution.

Their eligibility to end their life must also be confirmed by independent doctors, and can only be carried out according to very specific guidelines.

The vast majority of euthanasia cases are granted for people over the age of sixty with terminal medical conditions.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details