Canadian mom devastated after she says diabetic and blind son was euthanized under controversial law
Margaret Marsilla thought her son’s life had been spared.
In 2022, Kiano Vafaeian’s request to die under Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program had been denied. Marsilla says she found help for her son and believed he was healing.
“Four years ago, here in Ontario, we were able to stop his euthanasia and get him some help,” Marsilla wrote on Facebook. “He was alive because people stepped in when he was vulnerable – not capable of making a final, irreversible decision.”
Then, just after Christmas, she says she received a devastating phone call. Her 26-year-old son, who was blind in one eye, diabetic and struggling with depression, had been approved for MAiD and had died four days earlier.
Now, the Caledon mother says the same system that once spared him chose death instead of care. Heartbroken and angry, Marsilla wants to change the system so that it doesn’t happen to another family.
She told York Region News that when a person is suffering from mental health issues, there should be guardrails in place to ensure people aren’t euthanized without proper understanding of their background.
“And I promise I will fight tooth and nail for my son and other parents who too have children that suffer from mental illness,” she wrote in a post on Facebook. “No parent should ever have to bury their child because a system – and a doctor – chose death over care, help or love.”
The Independent has contacted Health Canada for comment.
Vafaeian, who grew up in Maple, was known for his bright smile and outgoing personality, but behind it, his mother said, was deep psychological suffering.
“He was not sound of mind, he was having highs and lows all the time,” Marsilla told the news outlet. “There were times when he loved life, there were times he was in a deep dark hole.”
Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age four, Vafaeian later developed diabetic retinopathy, losing all sight in one eye and most in the other. Marsilla tried to keep his life normal by enrolling him in diabetes camps, soccer and Taekwondo. But by age 11, he began showing signs of emotional volatility and aggression.
“At the time, I blamed the diabetes,” she said. “Other kids bullied him because he was pricking himself at school to test his blood sugar.”
By the time he was a teenager, Vafaeian’s behavior became increasingly erratic. He attended multiple high schools before dropping out. His grades collapsed. Marsilla says she suspected drugs had entered the picture.
After a serious car accident at 18 left him with chronic pain, Vafaeian obtained a medical marijuana prescription, which his mother approved over opioids. But his emotional highs and lows intensified, she said. He became isolated, buying and training pit bulls and eventually blacking out the windows of his apartment.
