On Monday, Sathya Kovac died, not from the life-threatening disease she spent the last 15 years fighting, but from the Manitoba Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program..Kovac, 44, died 10 a.m. choosing assisted suicide because she claimed inadequate provincial home care prevented her from continuing to live..Kovac wrote in her obituary “ultimately, it was not a genetic disease which took me out, it was a system.”. Sathya Kovac Sunroom .“There are not enough supports and services promoting quality of life and independence for those who are not healthy and able-bodied … there is desperate need for change. That's the sickness that causes so much suffering. Vulnerable people need help to survive,” said Kovac..“I could have had more time if I had more help.”.Kovac said she felt “no choice but to end my life.”.“I felt like I had no choice but to end my life. MAID is a last resort, and instead of helping people, they have this … life doesn’t end with less physical ability … it ends with less support,” said Kovac..READ MORE Dial 811 for easy access to Sask government-assisted suicide.Kovac’s friend Janine LeGal told the Winnipeg Free Press she will remember her friend’s “wit, her creative spirit, her spunk, and her ability to be present.”.“I’m angry this lovely, thoughtful, vibrant woman is no longer here, not because of her illness, but because appropriate resources she tried too hard to access weren’t provided to allow her to continue appreciating the life she loved living,” said LeGal.. Sathya Kovac .“She could have lived more with the right assistance. She wanted to be here and to be happy. She had a lot of life still in her, but the struggles, challenges, and frustrations were too many.”.Kovac had ALS — the same disease that killed her grandmother, mother, uncle, and several cousins — and was diagnosed in 2006 when she worked at a daycare..“I had to leave the job because it was physically demanding. I was running the school-age program and it involved walking the kids back and forth to school. And I was also helping with the preschool program, which required chasing kids around and being able to get down and up from their level,” said Kovac..“I was concerned for their safety if I couldn’t perform.”.Kovac had the option to move into a long-term care residence to receive the amount of care that she needed, but she did not want to as she knew others with ALS who died shortly after moving into long-term care..Kovac received the maximum funding from the government to live at home, which covered 55 hours of self-managed home care a week..“This might seem like plenty of hours, but it is not when you are requiring personal care, bathing, feeding and food prep, laundry, and assistance with every act of daily living,” said Kovac..“Just transferring me from bed to wheelchair can take quite a while and then from wheelchair to bathroom and bathroom back to wheelchair … the transfers themselves take significant time.”.The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority told Kovac to pay out of her pocket for additional care, which she did not have the money to do..“I was told to just pay out of pocket and use some private agency if I needed anything beyond what I was given, as though that was an accessible, sustainable option living on $1,300 a month from disability income and CPP,” said Kovac.
