In 2018, a Japanese woman traveled far and wide to the Life Circle agency in Switzerland.
The moment she signed her name on a contract, the two sisters who came with her couldn't help but cry bitterly.
The woman was Mina Kojima, and the contract she signed was an agreement to agree to "euthanasia".
Mina Kojima
This is a local government-licensed "euthanasia" agency in Switzerland, and Mina Kojima contacted them early on and applied for an expedited process of her "euthanasia".
"What's your name?"
"My name is Mina Kojima."
"Why did you come to us?"
"To end my life."
Lying on the bed, Mina Kojima answers the doctor's question while the camera next to her is recording live.
This is to provide evidence for the police and is an indispensable process for "euthanasia".
Mina Kojima and the doctor
What happened to Mina Kojima, and why did she choose "euthanasia", which makes people talk about it?
What kind of story is this?
Studying in a foreign country, a translator
Mina Kojima was born in Japan, and when she was very young, her parents divorced because of emotional discord.
Although she did not enjoy much love from her parents, Kojima Mina also had two older sisters, and the sisters felt sorry for her and loved her very much.
"Sister, the cherry blossoms are really beautiful!"
Two sisters and Mina Kojima (middle)
Cherry blossoms can be found everywhere in Japan.
It is not only the national flower of Japan, but also a symbol of purity and warmth, and it is also Kojima's favorite flower.
Sisters Keiko and Sadako stood by and looked at their sister under the cherry blossom tree with a smile.
The smiling Island Mina ran around the cherry blossom trees excitedly.
The mountains are full of pink and white cherry blossoms, and the breeze blows and the petals of cherry blossoms are raised, like a shy girl.
Dancing like an elf in the air, in that jumping dance step, the figure of Kojima Mina loomed.
cherry blossom
The most beautiful moment in the life of a cherry blossom is not its bloom, but the way it falls with the wind when it withers.
It is poignant, it is pathetic, it is the struggle to get rid of fate, and it is also a dance of life that can be sung and wept.
"This rice ball is super delicious!"
Keiko's sister spread out a picnic cloth with a blue grid on a white background on the grass, and the three sisters sat on it, admiring the cherry blossoms while eating rice balls.
"It's grandma who did it, and she knew we were out playing and doing a lot of it, and there was still it at home!"
Keiko's sister said as she wiped the rice grains from the corners of Kojima's mouth.
Kojima Mina danced happily, and just after eating, she pulled Sadako's sister to chase and fight under the tree, and the sisters were not happy.
Mina Kojima
Although she rarely sees her divorced parents, in Kojima's heart, she does not feel that she has a great regret for losing her parents, because she also has her sister and grandmother who love her.
"Sister, I think Sakura is so happy!"
"Why do you think that?"
"You see how free and happy they are when they are in the trees with so many brothers and sisters, and when they leave the trunk, they fly around in the sky!"
Pieces of cherry blossoms fell, falling like snowflakes in the palm of Kojima Mina's hand.
At that moment, as a child, she felt like a cherry blossom petal dancing with the wind.
cherry blossom
Mina Kojima has been very good at learning since she was a child, and her face is always full of confidence.
Everyone she had just met had a hard time believing that she was a divorced family who had always lived with her sister and grandmother. These confidences come from the encouragement and love of their sisters, who are a few years older and can't bear to have their sisters so young without the company of their parents.
As sisters, they gave her mother's love, father's strictness, and more company for her sister.
The two sisters have always regarded Kojima Mina as their pride, and Every good achievement of Kojima Mina will be praised by the sisters.
In addition to summarizing the lessons learned, every failure will also be warmly encouraged.
Mina Kojima went to high school smoothly, and when she graduated from high school, she did not choose a university in Japan, but chose Tonkin to study.
Sister and Mina Kojima (first from right)
With excellent results, she was successfully admitted to Seoul National University in South Korea and began to study abroad.
The sisters were worried that Kojima Mina would be inconvenienced in a foreign country, but what they did not expect was that their sister had grown up under their careful protection.
Mina Kojima is a very independent person, and she can handle all the problems she encounters on her own.
Even though there are many inconveniences in South Korea, she still chooses to overcome the incompatibility of water and soil and adapt herself to the foreign environment faster.
After graduating from University, Mina Kojima chose to work as a Korean translator.
Translation work is also very hard, and it takes many years to run in Both Japan and South Korea.
Mina (left) in her speech
But she did not feel tired at all, when she identified a thing, she would use all her energy to do it, and did not stop until she reached the goal, which was her consistent style of doing things.
Mina Kojima has always been excellent, she has even participated in the translation of many major international conferences, and her business ability in the industry is also very few.
Until one day later, something happened that caught Kojima Mina off guard.
Like a carp in the throat, anointed disease
This society is very inclusive and gives women more choices. The traditional husband and son is no longer the only way out for women, let alone women with outstanding business ability and high education.
Kojima Mina is one of them, busy with work and spiritual independence, so that she has been very lacking in the emotional aspects of men and women.
Mina Kojima
She did not choose to marry and have children like her sisters, she gave more time and energy to the job she loved, and also made a lot of contributions to society.
The sisters repeatedly persuaded her that she could consider the love between men and women, find a suitable partner, and not be lonely in the future. "It's enough for me and you guys in my life, and I don't think there's anything better about sharing with multiple people."
After seeing that many persuasions were fruitless, the sisters dismissed this idea.
They knew that their sisters were strong now, and neither mentally nor financially needed much interference from them.
When Mina Kojima was forty-five years old, she made a decision to give up her job as a translator and start working for the public good that she loved.
Sister Keiko
Mina Kojima already has her own place in the translation industry she knows.
Or rather, her social status depends entirely on her contribution to the translation industry.
However, despite the obstruction of her family, she resolutely chose to work in a children's welfare home.
"Sister, you see how pure their eyes are, there is light in those eyes, it is the hope of life, it is a respect for life!"
Kojima Mina loves the children in the welfare home, although she has no children, but at the first sight of the children in the welfare home, she knows that she is going to do this.
"Aunt Mina—"
"Aunt Mina, here you are!"
Sister Sadako
Every time Mina Kojima goes to the welfare home, the first thing she is greeted with is the kind greeting of the children. They surrounded Mina Kojima and shared their recent events with her.
Kojima Looked at the children with a smile, and in her eyes, the children were like little fireflies with a faint glow, fragile, cute, and hopeful.
In this way, forty-five-year-old Mina Kojima began her second life, which was to work for a children's welfare home. The children in the welfare home have no parents and mothers, and the children's desire for "parents" is very deep.
Whenever this happens, Kojima encourages them positively, just as her sisters encouraged her.
With her social influence, Mina Kojima has sought more benefits for the children's welfare home.
Under her negotiations, more former colleagues and friends are willing to join the project of the children's welfare home.
Mina Kojima
They also rely on their own efforts to promote the development of children's welfare homes.
Let the children get a better education and a better living environment.
"Doing public welfare? I am not doing public welfare, this is also a cause that I love, it is a responsibility that I choose for myself, and I am willing to use the rest of my life on my children. ”
Mina Kojima replied in response to her friends' puzzled questions. People always have to do something in their lives to make the light of life shine.
At least for others to illuminate the way forward, such a life is meaningful.
There has always been a secret corner in Kojima's heart, and that place is the place she has left for her parents who have always been "absent".
Although in the eyes of others, she is kind and excellent in her daily life, sunny and positive, and also enjoys the love of her sisters.
Sadako and Keiko
But only she herself knew the deliberately ignored loss in her heart when she saw the happy appearance of her classmates and their parents together as a child.
The growth of children is not a simple thing, and the lack of the company of one's family will be an irreparable regret.
Even if the sisters love more, they can't replace the position where their parents should be.
Mina Kojima continued to work for a children's welfare home until three years later, when Mina Kojima gradually felt that something was wrong with her body.
While walking on the flat path in flat shoes, her body fell uncontrollably; Holding a spoon in his hand to serve soup, the spoon slipped unconsciously; Even when I raise my hand to take something, I can't stop trembling.
Mina Kojima
After she found that she could not control her limbs and made some simple movements, she immediately underwent a physical examination at the hospital, and Kojima Mina was completely stunned to see the results.
The heart is like a thorn, and the choice is difficult
When Mina Kojima was forty-eight years old, she was diagnosed with a rare "multisystem atrophy". So far, there is no good treatment for "multisystem atrophy".
It can even be said that this is a disease of unknown cause.
The disease is not inherited, there is no family history, and patients will develop the disease in middle age.
The functions of the body are slowly out of control, and various bodily functions are gradually lost.
In the later stages, they will not be able to move, they will not be able to speak, and they will even have to plug in a ventilator to survive.
Mina Kojima
In the end, he will become a person who will always lie in a hospital bed, cannot speak, cannot eat, and relies on a tube to maintain his life.
The only thing that was healthy at that time was the waking brain.
After finding out that she had the disease, Mina Kojima collected all the information about the disease.
But to her disappointment, under the current medical technology, there is no way to treat it.
"Is all I have to do is wait to die?"
"Mina, we'll take care of you, how did you think of 'waiting for death'?"
"What's the difference between being alive like this and being 'dead'?"
Mina Kojima
Hearing the depression in Mina Kojima's words, Keiko and Sadako felt extremely sad.
Mina Kojima is still in the early stages of her illness and is able to take care of herself in life.
But Keiko's sister still let her live in her own home so that she could take care of her.
When night fell, Mina Kojima lay on the bed with her eyes open.
She couldn't sleep, and when she closed her eyes, she thought of her "miserable" appearance in the future, but when she opened her eyes, she felt that life was boring.
Mina Kojima faintly heard the sound of a small sobbing in the living room, and she closed her eyes, and a tear slipped from the corner of her eye.
She knew that it was Keiko's sister crying, and when she learned that she was sick, the sisters were worried that they would collapse.
But in front of themselves, the sisters tried hard to force a smile, afraid that they would feel sad.
Mina Kojima
Keiko's sister thought she was asleep, and the defense line that had been feared during the day finally collapsed in the darkness of the night.
The next day, Mina Kojima didn't mention the cries she heard last night, and she seemed to become more optimistic, discussing the matters of the welfare home with Keiko.
"What? Do you still want to continue to manage? ”
Keiko felt incredible, Kojima Mina was already in this situation, the doctor said that she needed to rest, how could she still deal with work?
But Kojima Mina is very insistent on this matter, and she still has unfinished projects in her hands.
This is what she has fought for for a long time, and she can't give up because she is sick.
Eventually, Mina Kojima and Sister Keiko each took a step back, and when she finished the project, she would no longer deal with the welfare home.
Mina Kojima agreed to work from home under Keiko's compulsion to handle problems on the computer and telephone.
The laptop was placed on the table, and Kojima's hands were tapping on the keyboard.
Even with the air conditioner on, large drops of sweat still appeared on her forehead.
Mina Kojima
Because Kojima Mina found that the fingers of her hands were trembling uncontrollably, they could not accurately tap on the designated keys.
This caused a lot of problems for her office, but she still insisted and laboriously handled all the work.
With the completion of the work, Kojima's condition is gradually getting worse.
She couldn't even walk on her own, she had to be supported by someone, or she would have to walk against the wall by herself. Falling down is already a common thing, and there are often inexplicable bruise marks on her body.
Every time Keiko saw it, she couldn't help but be distressed and helplessly smeared medicine on her.
But they didn't give up looking for a cure either, and they traveled to Japanese hospitals, doing countless tests, expecting different results again and again.
Mina Kojima
But to their disappointment, every time they waited for bad diagnostic information.
Although they were disappointed, they still smiled and faced it, as if as long as they looked at the condition positively, they would get optimistic results.
Until the month when her condition worsened, Keiko and Sadako took Mina Kojima to a hospital specializing in the treatment of "multisystem atrophy", where they sought a positive treatment.
But while the sisters were talking to the doctor about her condition, Mina Kojima noticed a nearby ward with a severe "multisystem atrophy" patient.
She was pale, her cheeks sunken, and her body was full of tubes.
Surrounded by data instruments that show the functions of the body, a sense of desolation lingered in the cold ward.
Severely ill patients
On the way back, Mina Kojima was silent all the time.
No matter how her sister talked to her, she was also interested.
Happy to death, vigorous life
Kojima Mina's mind kept thinking about the scene she saw in the hospital, and she seemed to see her future self.
Every day with an artificial respirator, lying motionless on a hospital bed.
Mina Kojima became more and more silent, and Keiko and Sadako often saw a sad emotion on her face.
They actively encouraged their sister, but to no avail.
Until one day, Keiko saw a knot tied with several towels under Mina Kojima's quilt.
She finally couldn't help it, and vented the pressure and emotions she had accumulated over the past few days on Mina Kojima.
"Are you looking for short-sightedness?" What are you thinking! ”
Mina Kojima and her sisters
Keiko angrily said that she didn't expect Mina Kojima to have such a thought, which made her feel sad.
Kojima Mina saw her sister so angry, and lowered her head not to look at her sister, avoiding her eyes.
But after this time, Mina Kojima tried other methods.
She tried to jump out of the window, but because she had no physical strength, she couldn't support herself, and she ended up failing.
Later, under the repeated persuasion of her sister, she promised not to look for short-sightedness again.
As her condition worsened, Mina Kojima's physical loss became more severe, and she ended up sitting in a wheelchair.
Mina Kojima's blog
When she accidentally fell down again, she began to crawl on all fours in front of Keiko.
However, when she struggled to look up but could not see Keiko's face, Kojima's mood began to mix.
Kojima Mina hates herself like this, she knows that seeing such an image of herself, the sisters' feelings are also complicated.
They used to have their own lives, but now they stop taking care of themselves.
As a person who can only lie and sit, Mina Kojima's life is more of a daze.
She gave most of her time to the daze, and she began to think about the meaning of life, the meaning of existence.
In the early days, she was still able to record some of her mood on the blog, and gradually she didn't even have the strength to type the keyboard with her hands.
But she still did her best to eat and do things, trying not to bother others.
But the thought of "death" remained in her mind and never disappeared until she accidentally learned about "euthanasia" in Switzerland.
Books of euthanasia
She told Keiko and Sadako her thoughts, and the sisters were shocked to hear that, they never thought that Kojima Mina would have such a thought.
They had thought that they had long dismissed the idea of "asking for death" from their sister, but they did not expect that this idea had always existed in her heart and had never been put down.
"Have you ever thought about the feelings of a person who later loses his ability to speak, who asks others to help but can't even say thank you?" Have you considered this? ”
Kojima said in a hoarse voice that she expected her sisters to disagree, but Kojima Mina had already made up her mind.
Doctor of a Swiss institution
She tells her sisters that this is the best way to do for her, and Keiko and Sadako burst into tears, but in the end they have to compromise with Mina Kojima.
In November 2018, Mina Kojima, who had been ill for three years, wrote a letter to the Swiss Life Circle agency in which she chose "euthanasia".
"It may be hard for anyone to imagine lying in bed all the time, forever looking at the ceiling."
When she learned that she needed to queue up to receive "euthanasia", Mina Kojima wrote another urgent letter.
She explained her situation and hoped to get "expedited" treatment.
"I want to be euthanized while I'm still me."
This sentence impressed the staff of the Swiss institution, who accepted Mina Kojima's request.
Mina Kojima meets with the doctor
On November 25, accompanied by her sisters, Mina Kojima came to the Swiss institution.
Because "euthanasia" is illegal in Japan, it is legal in Switzerland.
Switzerland is the happiest country in the world, and what they have always respected most is "human rights".
"Choosing how you die is equally important as choosing how you want to live."
Doctors at Swiss institutions explain that there are many people seeking "euthanasia" all over the world.
They already have a lot of cases here, and they are still flowing, to the point of queuing.
Cases of hospital customers
They will be screened from the applicants to confirm that they have a disability, illness, or other condition, and they will agree to "euthanasia" if they meet their conditions.
The doctor gave them two days to think and let them make the final decision.
Keiko and Sadako still have "luck" in their hearts, hoping that Mina Kojima will give up this decision.
"I'm becoming less and less like myself, what a terrible thing!"
Photo of the three sisters
Because of her self-esteem, Mina Kojima, who has not asked her sisters to help bathe for a long time, offers to let her sisters help her bathe, which makes Keiko and Sadako very happy.
After hearing their sister's words, they also knew that this matter was a foregone conclusion, and the stubborn sister would not give up.
The process of "euthanasia" was only a few minutes, and after the doctor asked Kojima a few questions, he poured the potion into the hanging bottle.
She gives the button to Mina Kojima, and the right of life and death is in Mina Kojima's hands.
Mina Kojima
Kojima Mina quietly pushed the button away, and the potion entered her body bit by bit.
"I'm happy."
Mina Kojima smiled at her sisters and said, Keiko and Sadako came over and hugged her silently.
Swiss River
Thirty seconds later, Mina Kojima was unconscious.
Four minutes later, her fifty-two years of life were over, and her ashes were forever in the beautiful Swiss River.
Five months later, it was time for the cherry blossoms to bloom again.
Keiko and Sadako are in the same place, eating rice balls made by their grandmother, and missing Mina Kojima.
Keiko and Sadako under the cherry blossom trees
Sometimes we often wonder what is the meaning of life?
The answers we can't think of at the beginning of life may be answered at the end of life, but it cannot be denied that we respect every life's choice.
Thinking about it, have we lived our lives in the meaning we want?
Welcome to share your views in the comments section, your recognition is our inexhaustible motivation to continue to create!