Article content
A Stratford woman who has written about her journey toward medically assisted death is among the 88 people named on Wednesday to the Order of Canada.
Diane Sims – who was diagnosed in 1975 at age 17 with multiple sclerosis – qualified and was approved in 2022 for medical assistance in dying (MAiD). She detailed the experience toward approval in a Macleans magazine piece titled How I Plan To Die.
Article content
“I’ve had some family members . . . tell me that it’s basically suicide and I should wait for God’s timing to take me, and I’ve said, ‘You want me to suffer?’” she said in a 2023 interview with The Stratford Beacon Herald.
In Wednesday’s announcement for the Order of Canada, Sims was described as “a celebrated writer and accessibility advocate” who has published “candid writings about her lifelong perseverance through medical hardships and her personal journey with medical assistance in dying.”
She’s among 88 new members of the Order of Canada and the only one from the London region. The list of others named includes movie star Ryan Reynolds and curling legend Kevin Martin.
Sims is a Sault Ste. Marie native. She’s a religious studies graduate of University of Waterloo and studied journalism at Carleton University.
In the 2023 interview, expressed her desire to never end up living in a nursing home.
“My whole experience with nursing homes is they’re just places where you’re waiting for God. It was the lack of independence and privacy, and I worried about care because my care needs are high. I never wanted that,” she said. “And I’m a communicator, so when my hands stop working completely and my voice stops working, I don’t feel I have myself left anymore. MAiD is such a dignified way to go.”
The Order of Canada is considered the cornerstone of the Canadian Honours System. Through nominations from people across the country, the order has celebrated the outstanding achievements and wide-ranging contributions of more than 8,000 Canadians since its 1967 inception.
Share this article in your social network
