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Woman, 23, who survived ISIS bomb attack but couldn’t live
with the trauma ‘euthanised’ in Belgian clinic
Jon Rogers
The Sun
20:01, 7 Oct 2022, Updated: 22:24, 7 Oct 2022
A WOMAN who survived the Brussels airport terror attack has died having chosen to be euthanised after she suffered from severe depression and PTSD in the wake of the incident.
Shanti De Corte, 23, was in the departure lounge of the Belgian airport with her school classmates on March 22, 2016, when a bomb was exploded by Islamic State terrorists.
Shanti De Corte survived the terror attack in 2016 on a Belgian airport but suffered from terrible depression and PTSD in the wake of the blasts. Credit: Facebook
People are seen lying on the floor after a blast ripped through the airport. Credit: AFP
Shanti, who was 17 at the time, escaped the explosion, which along with two other blasts, killed 32 people and left more than 300 others injured.
The then teenager didn’t suffer any physical wounds in the blasts.
But the psychological effects left her suffering from constant panic attacks and periods of depression from which she couldn’t break free of. Shanti underwent rehabilitation treatment at a psychiatric hospital in her home town of Antwerp, Belgium, and took a number of anti-depressant medications to help her.
Sadly though, she was unable to shake off her dark thoughts and tried to kill herself on two occasions in 2018 and 2020.
The troubled woman then opted to be euthanised earlier this year – a procedure which is legal in Belgium – and died on May 7, 2022, after two psychiatrists approved her request.
Shanti’s story was highlighted earlier this week when her mum, Marielle, revealed her daughter’s pain on Belgian outlet VRT.
Marielle said: “That day really cracked her, she never felt safe after that. She didn't want to go anywhere where other people were, out of fear. She also had frequent panic attacks and she never got rid of it.”
Shanti often took to social media to detail her experiences following the bombing and spoke of her battle with her declining mental health.
She said in one post: “I get a few medications for breakfast. And up to 11 antidepressants a day. I couldn't live without it. With all the medications I take, I feel like a ghost that can't feel anything anymore. Maybe there were other solutions than medications.”
According to Shanti’s school psychologist she had been suffering from severe depression before she opted to end her life.
She told RTBF: “There are some students who react worse than others to traumatic events. And having interviewed her twice, I can tell you that Shanti De Corte was one of those fragile students.”
The psychologist referred Shanti to a psychiatric hospital in Antwerp, where she regularly got treatment. Shanti, though, tried to kill herself in 2018 after her mental health deteriorated following an altercation with another patient who sexually assaulted her.
That's hardly believable - going to a psychiatric hospital for help and getting sexually assaulted!
Another unsuccessful attempt to take her own life occurred two years later, and following that, contacted an organisation that defends the right to “death with dignity”. RTBF reported she asked the organisation to perform euthanasia due to “unbearable psychiatric suffering”.
In Belgium, euthanasia – defined as the practice of intentionally ending a person’s life to relieve pain and suffering – is legal for an individual who is in “a medically futile condition of constant and unbearable physical or mental suffering that cannot be alleviated, resulting from a serious and incurable disorder caused by illness or accident”.
According to RTBF, Shanti’s request to be euthanised was approved earlier this year by two psychiatrists.
The report said: “The woman was euthanised on May 7, 2022, surrounded by her family.”
Shanti wrote on social media on the day she was euthanised: “I was laughing and crying. Until the last day. I loved and was allowed to feel what true love is. Now I will go away in peace. Know that I miss you already.”
Prosecutors in Antwerp have launched an investigation following complaints from a neurologist at the UZC Brugman academic clinical hospital in Brussels who has claimed the decision to euthanise Shanti “was made prematurely”.
Although the Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia in Belgium had no concerns over the case, neurologist Paul Deltenre said there were still different modalities of care and treatment available to Shanti that were not tried, according to RTBF.
Including Prayer? It seems the two corroborating psychiatrists have a definition of an incurable psychiatric condition that may be limited to their abilities. This is tragic and disgraceful!
Maybe someone can help me understand this. I'm assuming that a lot of her trauma comes from a fear of dying, and yet, her psychiatrists have concluded that the answer to that is to die! I know she can't unsee the horrors that she has seen, but they all have to do with death, dying, and suffering. Their solution is to remove the suffering in the process of dying and death. This, of course, assumes that there is no survival of the soul or spirit after our physical death. That's a big assumption that is completely wrong.
Bradford: Police charge 24th man in child sex abuse inquiry
The offences are alleged to have taken place between 2007 and 2011
Detectives investigating allegations of historic child sexual abuse in Bradford have charged another man, bringing the total number to 24.
The offences, including rape and child prostitution, are said to have taken place between 2007 and 2011 and involve one victim.
West Yorkshire Police said 23 men have already appeared in court.
Omar Taj, 35, from Bradford, is due before Bradford Magistrates' Court later charged with rape.
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