A Windsor, Ont. man who pressured the federal government to allow him and others with severe mental illness access to doctor-assisted death has died.
Adam Maier-Clayton, 27, died by suicide Thursday, his father Graham Clayton confirmed to CTV News. Police informed the family of his death Friday.
Maier-Clayton鈥檚 mother, Margaret Maier, announced the death on Friday evening
鈥淚 love you Adam and know deep in my heart, that you are no longer in pain,鈥� Margaret Maier wrote. 鈥�...Rest in peace my beautiful son. I am devastated.鈥�
Maier-Clayton's has has become a memorial page, filled with dozens of tributes and a message reading: "We hope that people who love Adam will find comfort in visiting his profile to remember and celebrate his life."
Maier-Clayton suffered from depression, anxiety and a psychiatric condition called somatic symptom disorder which left him in extreme pain with no apparent physical cause.
鈥淭here is no cure for what I have,鈥� Maier-Clayton told CTV News 鈥淲ith modern science we don't understand mechanically what is going on inside of my brain.鈥�
Graham Clayton said his son鈥檚 sole purpose in his final year of life was to be an advocate for medically-assisted death for those with the most severe cases of mental illness for whom there is no treatment and who wish to end their suffering.
Clayton said he plans to continue his son鈥檚 campaign.
As the law on medically-assisted death stands now, Canadians with mental illness do not qualify for a doctor-assisted death. The legislation allows assisted deaths only for consenting adults "in an advanced stage of irreversible decline" from an incurable illness and for whom natural death is "reasonably foreseeable."
However, a review is underway to consider whether the mentally ill, mature minors, and those diagnosed with dementia or other 鈥渃ompetence-eroding鈥� conditions should be allowed to receive the end-of-life procedure. The review is expected to be complete by December 2018.
Many mental health advocates oppose access to assisted dying for the mentally ill. They say that most psychiatric disorders can be treated with the right care.
Maier-Clayton鈥檚 death comes after he tried numerous medications to control his symptoms, which included unexplainable pain, headaches, burning sensations, nausea and other problems. He said the treatment he received was not making a difference.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the fact -- some people aren't going to get better, we don't have treatments for them,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pain you can鈥檛 see, but it鈥檚 pain nonetheless.鈥�
A memorial will be held for Maier-Clayton on Saturday.
With a report from CTV鈥檚 medical specialist Avis Favaro and producer Elizabeth St. Philip
