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.

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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.

“We went through hell and back,” Marsilla told York Region News. “It didn’t matter how much money or help I gave him. At this point, I knew how bad his mental health was.”

Then in 2022, after Canada expanded eligibility for assisted dying beyond terminal illness, Vafaeian reportedly applied for MAiD and was approved, claiming his diabetes and blindness were “irremediable.” But doctors did not proceed.

The family’s story was featured on CBC’s The Fifth Estate, where troubling allegations surfaced, including that part of his assessment occurred over FaceTime while he was at a restaurant.

Marsilla says she believed she had won him back from death.

“I thought he was finally coming around with positive hopes for his future,” she said.

She said she arranged housing, a caregiver, and encouraged him to join a gym. Months before his death, Vafaeian traveled to New York City to buy smart glasses.

Then on January 3, their family received a call from a law firm in British Columbia. Vafaeian had died four days earlier.

“I feel as though someone killed my son,” Marsilla said.

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Marsilla says she was stunned to learn the MAiD approval cited blindness, diabetes and “severe peripheral neuropathy.” Marsilla disputes that assessment.

“Kiano spoke occasionally about numbness in his hands and feet, but he wasn’t on medication for it,” she said. “He was able to eat and walk comfortably.”

She now wants stronger safeguards for people with mental illness, including mandatory psychiatric and addiction assessments.

Canada legalized assisted dying in 2016 for terminally ill adults. Eligibility expanded in 2021 to include people with chronic illness and disability. In 2027, MAiD is set to expand further to include mental illness alone.

Canada now has one of the highest rates of medically assisted deaths in the world, with 16,499 deaths in 2024 – about 5.1 percent of all deaths, according to a report viewed by The Free Press. The fastest-growing category is a catch-all labeled “other,” which includes Vafaeian’s case.

Sonu Gaind, a University of Toronto psychiatry professor, told The Free Press that in “gray zone” cases, physical diagnoses are often cited even when despair and isolation are the real drivers.

Marsilla told the outlet that she supports assisted dying for terminal patients, but not for those she believes could still be helped.

“When people are already dying, it’s different,” she said. “If it wasn’t for MAiD and track 2, Kiano would still be alive.”

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She also questions why someone calling a suicide hotline is directed to therapy, while someone seeking MAiD can be approved to die.

“When people have sicknesses or diseases that are not terminal and treatable,” she said, “why would the government or any MAiD-approved doctor qualify them for it?”

Health Canada said MAiD may be provided to individuals with mental disorders if safeguards are met.

“MAID may be provided to an individual who is suffering intolerably from an eligible medical condition (such as cancer or a neurological condition), who also has a mental disorder, providing they meet the remaining eligibility criteria and the required safeguards are satisfied,” Karine LeBlanc wrote in an email to Metroland.  

Marsilla says she will never know exactly what happened in her son’s final days. But what she does know, she says, is that she will do whatever she can to stop it from happening to another family.