Article By Frank Bergman
The devastated family of an 83-year-old Ontario woman has revealed that the Canadian government euthanized the Christian grandmother against her will while she prayed, cried for help, and begged doctors to spare her life.
Brigitte Stegemann’s family says she was euthanized despite allegedly breaking down in tears and declaring: “I don’t want the death shot!”
Stegemann was killed with a lethal injection under Canada’s taxpayer-funded Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program on July 10 at The Pearl care home in Cannifton, Ontario.
Her granddaughter and longtime caregiver, Brigitte Kranendonk, has revealed that Stegemann was confused, failed a cognitive assessment, and never clearly consented to being killed on the morning of the procedure.
In fact, Kranendonk says her grandmother begged doctors to let her live.
Belleville Police has now confirmed that the case remains under investigation.
“This incident is currently open and under investigation with our Criminal Investigations Division,” a police spokesman said.
Grandmother Cried: ‘I’ve Made a Mistake’
Stegemann had been diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer in February.
However, doctors were reportedly uncertain whether she had six months or as long as two years to live.
Kranendonk said she had previously discussed assisted dying with her grandmother and received a clear response.
“No, I don’t want that,” Stegemann said, according to Kranendonk.
Her granddaughter said Stegemann’s Christian faith and fear of displeasing God were major reasons she opposed euthanasia.
But while Kranendonk was away on a 10-day road trip, the care home informed her that Stegemann would undergo a MAiD assessment.
Kranendonk said she later attended a cognitive assessment in which her grandmother gave incorrect answers about her own family.
Stegemann said she had no siblings despite having 13 and incorrectly said none were still alive, according to Kranendonk.
Nevertheless, the doctor declared her eligible for MAiD.
Two days before the scheduled procedure, Kranendonk said she confronted her grandmother in explicit terms.
“Do you know that you’re going to die on Friday?” she asked.
Stegemann reportedly broke down and cried for 45 minutes.
“I’ve made a mistake,” she wailed.
Kranendonk said she repeatedly reassured her grandmother that she could refuse.
“The doctors are coming on Friday, and you just say no,” she recalled pleading.
Kranendonk says her grandmother was so upset by the thought of being euthanized that “she was bawling. Inconsolable.”
‘Phenomenal Amount of Blood’
What followed on the morning of Stegemann’s death has left Kranendonk questioning whether her grandmother ever gave final consent.
Before the doctor arrived, Kranendonk alleges that a nurse began attempting to insert an IV.
The nurse reportedly struggled to find a vein, repeatedly piercing Stegemann’s arm before trying the other side.
“There was a phenomenal amount of blood,” Kranendonk recalled.
“It is all over my Oma’s arm, it is all over her nightie, soaking through her pillow, all over the sheets, there is so much blood,” she said.
“And throughout all this time, mind you, the nurse is not wearing gloves.”
Kranendonk says the nurse had to convince her grandmother to accept a medical port, a small device placed under the skin to provide a direct way for medicine to reach a vein.
However, the 83-year-old repeatedly ripped it off, screaming: “I don’t want the death shot!”
When the doctor entered, Kranendonk said Stegemann was unresponsive.
The doctor allegedly told her she was there to administer “medicine” and asked whether that was acceptable.
“My Oma is not moving,” Kranendonk recalled.
“She doesn’t open her eyes. She doesn’t nod.
“She doesn’t say anything, and the doctor just said: ‘Okay, well, I’m going to proceed.’”
Stegemann was pronounced dead within 10 minutes.
Family Demands Investigation
Kranendonk now alleges her grandmother was euthanized without proper consent.
“She did not consent the morning of the procedure,” Kranendonk said.
She is seeking answers from Ontario’s Chief Coroner’s Office, the Patient Ombudsman, and police.
The practitioners and care home have not publicly responded to the allegations, but are understood to maintain that Stegemann legally consented to MAiD.
Belleville Police confirmed that the matter is under investigation by its Criminal Investigations Division.
For Kranendonk, however, the experience destroyed her trust in Canada’s medical establishment.
“I was flying blind,” she said.
She said she trusted the government and medical professionals to protect her vulnerable grandmother.
That trust, she says, is now gone.
Canada has become one of the world’s largest users of “assisted suicide.”
In 2023, MAiD accounted for 4.7 percent of all deaths nationwide.
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