Canada: Bereaved parents demand change after their son was euthanized under controversial law

The parents of a 26-year-old Canadian man, recently euthanized, have decided to raise their voices against the Medical Assistance in Dying System (MAID), which they accuse of failing to protect their son, despite his history of mental illness and his "vulnerability" condition.

In British Columbia, Kiano Vafaeian agreed to the euthanasia procedure on Dec. 30, 2025. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age four, his emotional stability was profoundly affected following a car accident when he was 17.

His mother, Margaret Marsilla, an Ontario resident, explained to Fox News Digital that her son's depression used to manifest seasonally, but that his fragility intensified after he lost the sight in one eye in 2022, an episode that she said led him to "obsess" with the MAID program.

"He kept insisting he could get approval," remembered the young man's mother. "We never thought there was a possibility that any doctor would approve MAID for a 22- or 23-year-old at the time, whether it was for diabetes or vision loss."

A training to die

In 2022, after a Toronto doctor initially approved Kiano's euthanasia request, his family launched a public campaign to voice their opposition, leading the specialist to withdraw the approval.

Kiano's relatives claim that for a time the young man showed signs of improvement. However, his mother recalls that those gains faded with the arrival of fall and winter, when his emotional state deteriorated again and his conversations about MAID reappeared.

The family revealed to Fox that Dr. Ellen Wiebe, a well-known MAID program provider in British Columbia "coached" their son to know what to say to meet the requirements of so-called "Track 2," intended for patients whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable.

"We believe she was coaching him ... on how to deteriorate his body and what she could approve of him, and how far she could go with that approval," Kiano's mother said. The young man's parents told Fox that they were never informed that his application had been approved and only learned of his death several days later.

The parents also noted that medical records did not support the alleged "severe peripheral neuropathy" listed on the death certificate as a reason for authorizing the procedure.

For an abolition of Track 2

Fox disclosed that the family now calls for deletion of the provision known as Track 2 and supports bill C-218, which seeks to limit access to MAID when the patient's only condition is a mental illness.

"Realistically, safeguards for patients should include contacting their family members and offering them a variety of treatment options," Marsilla told Fox. According to the woman, the current system allows physicians to approve and euthanize Track 2 patients within 90 days. "How can that be safe for patients?" she questioned.

On Facebook, Kiano's mother wrote: "No parent should have to bury their child because a system - and a doctor - chose death over care, help or love."