In 1966, Mina Kojima was born into an unhappy family. Her parents often quarreled and argued, and the sound of quarrels and debris often echoed in the home.
At a very young age, she witnessed her mother often being beaten by her father, and her poor mother always endured it in silence, but she could not prevent the recurrence of domestic violence. This bloody violence and indifferent and ruthless mode of getting along deeply hurt Kojima Mina's young heart.
One day, the parents had a big fight over trivial matters, and the mother's forehead was beaten by the father with blood. Mina Kojima hid in her room in fear, covering her ears and not daring to make a sound.
This time, the mother couldn't take it anymore and chose to leave the broken home the next day with simple luggage.
The loss of her mother has left Mina Kojima even more vulnerable and helpless. She leaned against the door, looking at her mother's departing back, tears welling up in her eyes, but she couldn't make a sound.
She knew that she would have to live with her cruel father in this broken and cold "home" from now on, and there would never be warmth and love again.
Sure enough, as soon as the mother left, the father's violent attitude became even more serious. He often beats Mina Kojima to vent his anger when he is drunk, and there are always large and small scars on his face. Mina Kojima felt more terrified and desperate than ever, and she curled up in the corner shivering, but she couldn't change it all.
When the two sisters learned the news, they hurried to pick up Mina Kojima back to their home. The moment she came to her sister's house, Mina Kojima was finally safe. Her sisters treated her wounds meticulously and took care of her daily life in detail.
The warm home and the harmonious atmosphere made Kojima Mina feel the warmth and care that she had not felt for a long time.
Mina Kojima is determined to study Xi hard, change her fate, and repay her sisters for raising her. With the encouragement and support of her sisters, Mina Kojima was admitted to Seoul National University in South Korea with excellent grades and began a new chapter in her life.
Although the pain of her childhood has not completely disappeared, her sisters have given her hope and strength, allowing her to step out of the shadows of life and embrace the sunshine.
After graduating from university, Mina Kojima was able to find a job as a translator thanks to her solid professional knowledge and language skills. The job was stable and decent for her, and she worked hard every day to achieve success in her career.
However, the sense of accomplishment did not completely fill the emptiness in her heart. Friends are already married and can rely on each other. And Mina Kojima still lives alone to this day.
Due to the shadow of her childhood, she was always afraid of intimacy and refused the blind date introduced by her sister. The days of being alone made her feel more lonely than ever.
The busy work on weekdays can temporarily paralyze the emptiness in her heart, but in the dead of night, that cold and helpless feeling will hit her heart again. She would suddenly wake up and shed silent tears in the dark.
The next day, I had to work hard and force myself to devote myself to busy work to escape the pain in my heart.
As time passed, this sense of emptiness became stronger and stronger, and Mina Kojima felt that the meaning of life was losing little by little. At the age of 46, her work status and quality of life were declining.
The leader reminded her many times, but she herself felt powerless. Eventually, she volunteered to retire and decided to go home to recuperate.
After returning home, Mina Kojima's life is even more empty and monotonous. With nothing to do all day, she felt like a stagnant pool of water, stagnant. Gradually, she developed the feeling that she was missing something important in her life.
In order to make her life meaningful again, she began to volunteer in the welfare home, accompanying those lovely disabled children. The bits and pieces of getting along with the children became a ray of light in her life, and it was a rare warm time in her life.
At the welfare home, Mina Kojima finally found the meaning of life. She looked at the innocent smiling faces of the children, and felt unprecedented happiness and satisfaction in her heart. These five years have been a rare healing time for her.
However, the good times were short-lived. At the age of 51, Mina Kojima suddenly found that her limbs were weak and she had difficulty moving. She was very panicked and quickly contacted her sister to take her to the hospital for a check-up.
She and her family were shocked by the results – she was diagnosed with a rare disease, multiple system atrophy, which is an incurable disease.
Doctors told her that the disease would cause the patient's body to become increasingly exhausted and that she would eventually be on a ventilator to maintain minimal vital signs. And the whole process, she will go through great pain and suffering.
The news was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for her and her family.
Mina Kojima fell into unprecedented despair. She realizes that her time is numbered, and that she is destined to spend this time in great pain, losing the dignity of life day by day.
The sisters were also devastated by the news, and they begged the doctor to check it again with red eyes, hoping to reverse the result. But the truth is so cruel that no amount of unwillingness to face it will help.
They can only try to nourish Mina Kojima's body and mind and help her alleviate her pain.
Mina Kojima registered a social media account and used it as her own blog to record the bits and pieces of her life. She hopes that when she is sick, she can still feel a little warmth from this world.
Many netizens came to cheer and encourage, but no one can empathize with the despair in her heart. For a long time, she had been wrestling to the death with her unbeatable life, and she was doomed to lose this battle.
On her social media accounts, Mina Kojima stumbled upon the news that a Swiss clinic could provide euthanasia services. A flash of inspiration crossed her mind and she began to seriously consider this option.
Perhaps, through euthanasia, she can leave the sick body that tortured her forever and put an end to this senseless suffering.
After careful consideration, Mina Kojima decisively made the decision to end her life. She submitted her application to the hospital and began to wait for the results, while also telling her sister what she thought.
The sisters were shocked at first, and they begged Mina Kojima to cherish her life and not to make such an extreme choice.
However, after learning about the pain and despair of their sister's life, they are powerless to change this cruel reality. In the end, they can only reluctantly show respect for Kojima's choice and decide to accompany her to Switzerland.
In November 2018, 52-year-old Mina Kojima boarded a plane bound for Switzerland and began her final journey.
When she arrived at the Swiss clinic, the doctor repeatedly asked her if she was really ready. Seeing the firmness in her eyes, the doctor gave her two days to think again.
In this last moment, her sisters took her on a tour of the beautiful landscapes of Switzerland and tasted the local cuisine, hoping that she would change her mind.
However, Mina Kojima's determination did not waver in the slightest. Two days later, she arrived at the injection room with all the instruments ready. She calmly turned on the infusion set and lay down on the hospital bed.
Just 4 minutes later, with the help of euthanasia drugs, she left this world forever.
Mina Kojima chose euthanasia, which not only ended her own pain, but also made her family experience another pain. Although the process was difficult, she understood that this was Mina Kojima's choice, and they could only respect and support her and let her leave peacefully.
After Mina Kojima passed away peacefully on the other side of the world, her sisters fell into deep grief. They wanted to bring their sister's body back to Japan, but the local government did not recognize the legality of euthanasia.
As a result, they had no choice but to have their sister's farewell ceremony in Switzerland.
Faced with the sudden death, the sisters were in pain. They recalled the bits and pieces of their sister's life, and they couldn't help but burst into tears. Once upon a time, they laughed and joked together in a cozy little home; The joy of my sister's admission to university is still fresh in their memories; The gentleness and kindness of my sister taking care of the children in the welfare home are also vivid.
Now, it's all in the past. The sisters couldn't help but blame themselves, feeling that they still had unfulfilled responsibilities and care for their sisters, and if they could do better, maybe their sisters would not have gone to a dead end.
Their guilt and self-reproach turned into rows of tears that melted into their ashes.
After thinking about it, the sisters decided to sprinkle their ashes in the riverside scenery that their sister loved most during her lifetime. Perhaps only in this way can my sister's broken heart truly rest in peace.
So, they went to the river where the family had been playing, and sprinkled the ashes with tears in their eyes.
The sun is warm, the breeze is gentle, and the river flows slowly. The sisters watched the ashes disappear into the water and watched their sister's soul leave the world and begin a new journey.
Despite the pain, they understand that this is their sister's choice, and as sisters, they can only respect and support her and let her die peacefully.
Although they are separated in this life, the friendship between sisters will always be engraved in their hearts. The sisters wiped away their tears, looked at each other and smiled, and continued their own journey of life.
They will always remember what their sister looked like when she was alive and become an eternal light in their hearts.
Mina Kojima's experience has brought renewed attention to the issue of quality and dignity of life. When illness robs a person of his bodily functions and keeps him in pain for a long time, should we respect his choice to end his life voluntarily? This is undoubtedly a topic of complex and sensitive value.
On the positive side, life itself is a value, and we should all cherish the wonder of life and the experience that life brings. Therefore, the choice of voluntarily ending one's life is not morally acceptable.
But on the other hand, when illness destroys the quality of a person's life, making life worse than death, ending life may be a way out of dignity.
This requires us to look at it with tolerance and rationality. Because there is one life, there is no absolute right or wrong. We cannot simply impose our own standards on others.
At the same time, it is also necessary to establish a scientific and rigorous evaluation mechanism, and not to open the wrong path.
At present, the discussion about the value of life and euthanasia is still full of controversy. But there is a consensus behind this controversy, that is, the understanding of life should not stay on the surface, but go deep into the essence of life.
We are all trying to explore the meaning of life, and in the process, we can achieve understanding and inclusion. This is a topic that will take time to settle into, and we need to look at it with wisdom and compassion.