In the middle of a health crisis, the 74-year-old Brazilian philosopher \u2018Eva\u2019 asked for help to call her son \u2018Guido\u2019 over the phone (the names are fictional but the people, real). Eva was speaking in disjointed sentences that Guido knew were uncharacteristic of his mom. Living in a different city with his spouse and children, Guido suspected Eva was having a stroke and booked the first available flight. Before Guido arrived, Eva refused help from the paramedics a friend had summoned. It would take one week for Eva to see a neurologist, who confirmed the stroke: a distal Cerebrovascular Accident. Two years earlier, Eva had been diagnosed with arrhythmia and prescribed an anticoagulant, but she soon stopped taking it, determined to avoid the chronic use of any medication. Up until the stroke, Eva was fiercely independent and protective of her privacy \u2013 to the point that she would not receive friends or lovers at home. She was also sceptical of technology, opting for physical over digital media and communicating with her students through phone conversations instead of video calls. Eva had constructed her life around minimizing material needs in order to create space and time for intentional engagement with the people and questions she deeply cared about. Yet, she did not have private healthcare, nor any strategy to manage her aging. Eva survived the stroke with her lucidity intact, but was left with: an aphasia that made her unable to work, read books, or watch films; anosmia and ageusia that turned eating into a flavourless ordeal; a risk of convulsion and more strokes if she slacked on a cocktail of prescription drugs that caused debilitating side effects; and a dependency on others to do routine things, from handling money to properly using silverware or brushing her teeth. The autonomous philosopher had suddenly and utterly lost her identity. Even though Guido did his best to help Eva reorganize her life according to her new needs and wait to see how much her brain could recover, she decided to die. Eva remembered the suffering of her own father Leone: after a stroke when he was 80, he withered for two years in what the family describes as \u2018intense physical and psychological torture\u2019 (translated from the Portuguese, as all other quotes). Eva was resolved not to end like that.<\/p>
The story of how Eva decided to die \u2013 the first half of her tale \u2013 constitutes the opening of Adriano Silva\u2019s nonfictional book O dia em que Eva decidiu morrer<\/em> (The day Eva decided to die). The second half of Eva\u2019s story details how she went about dying on her own terms: she contacted a Swiss nonprofit (unnamed in the book) that was willing to help, went through the qualifying steps, and prepared to travel to Switzerland while downsizing her life in Brazil. She found a meaningful destination for the books she treasured, said goodbye to close friends, and planned how she wanted the news of her passing to be communicated. At some point, Guido asked Eva\u2019s permission to record her story, \u2018for there were many suffering under the silence of that enormous taboo\u2019. Eva responded it was up to him \u2013 and Guido\u2019s account forms the basis of Silva\u2019s book. Eva died in an apartment managed by that nonprofit in Switzerland, after activating a valve that welcomed a pentobarbital solution into her veins. Present were Guido and two nurses, who video-recorded Eva\u2019s autonomous and conscious answers to the questions mandated by the Swiss Voluntary-Assisted-Death protocol. Between the two halves of Eva\u2019s story, Silva summarizes eight other assisted-death cases that influenced legislative changes in different countries, including those of: Brian Ameche, who inspired Amy Bloom\u2019s memoir In Love<\/em>; and Lisette Nigot, who dialogued for years with Philip Nitschke, the creator of \u2018Sarco\u2019 (see related Assisted Lab<\/em> entries). Grounded in these stories, the last third of Silva\u2019s book breaks down arguments for and against assisted dying and evaluates the legal efforts for the right-to-die in Brazil. Thus, Silva\u2019s journalistic commitment to report on Eva\u2019s assisted death as objectively and thoroughly as possible also informs his activism. Whilst objectivity may be an elusive ideal, Silva\u2019s journalistic writing \u2013 detail-oriented, fact-checked, and narrated in third-person \u2013 fosters trust; and Silva banks on this trust to promote an agenda that links the right-to-die with self-determination. While a critic from GZH<\/em> recognizes that \u2018the book is not impartial\u2019, Silva\u2019s work has been widely praised for its informational qualities: the Eu J\u00e1 Estive Em<\/em> blog highlights the abundance of data that makes it a reference for people interested in the subject, regardless of their opinions; and the Folha de S.Paulo<\/em> underscores the importance of Silva\u2019s detailed research to \u2018present real and profound people, with qualities and defects\u2019, that \u2018well suits a work broaching a taboo\u2019.<\/p> Adriano Silva\u2019s efforts to harness the power of stories to change the law go beyond his book. He has founded BoaMorte<\/em> (GoodDeath) and co-founded Eu Decido<\/em> (I Decide), two interest groups dedicated to promoting debate and advancing legislation on the right-to-die (another co-founder of Eu Decido<\/em> is the journalist Vitor Hugo Brandalise, author of O \u00faltimo abra\u00e7o<\/em>, also reviewed by Assisted Lab<\/em>). Silva sees interviews as opportunities to educate the public on terminology, distinguishing \u2018suicide\u2019 as an impulsive \u2018act of violence against oneself\u2019 from \u2018voluntary assisted death\u2019, which he defines as a rational and \u2018legitimate desire to end suffering \u2026 accomplished in a safe manner, under medical supervision, in a serene environment\u2019. Eu Decido<\/em>, where Silva serves as vice-president, has published a manual to help Brazilians create a living will with advance directives for medical decisions. Although Brazil\u2019s Federal Council of Medicine has recognized the right of patients to refuse treatment (a.k.a. orthothanasia) since 2006, the Ministry of Health blocked that resolution (no. 1.805) until 2010 and only in 2024 started implementing a National Policy of Palliative Care. However, Silva points out that resolutions are not laws, and a bill that would enshrine the right to orthothanasia has been stuck in Congress since 2009. Silva scrutinizes these legal ambiguities and states that \u2018what is certain is that Brazilians die badly\u2019, citing a 2015 survey by The Economist<\/em> that placed Brazil in 42nd place in terms of \u2018Quality of Death\u2019. That explains why Eva resorted to Switzerland \u2013 as well as Antonio Cicero, whom Silva mentions as \u2018the most famous case of self-affirmation of the right-to-die involving a Brazilian.\u2019 Silva often emphasizes the importance of Cicero\u2019s goodbye letter to bring the issue of death with dignity to everyone\u2019s attention in Brazil, a country he deems to be thanatophobic. Silva adds that, from Cicero, we only had the letter \u2013 and hence the motivation to tell Eva\u2019s full story.<\/p>","cover":{"ratio":0.7621621621621621,"url":"https:\/\/assistedlab.ch\/media\/pages\/textual\/o-dia-em-que-eva-decidiu-morrer\/217b074073-1779387403\/barrasin-raffet-c1840-deesse_de_la_raison-crop-2410x-q90.jpg","caption":"Barrasin & Raffet, \u2018De\u0301esse de la Raison\u2019, c. 1840"},"data":[{"title":"Title","value":"\u2018O dia em que Eva decidiu morrer\u2019 by Adriano Silva"},{"title":"Author","value":"Adriano Silva"},{"title":"Year","value":"2025"},{"title":"Language","value":"Portuguese"},{"title":"Tags","value":"Intimate Portraits of Death \u2022 Self-determination \u2022 Suicide Tourism \u2022 Investigative Journalism"},{"title":"Legislative context","value":"Ministry of Health Decree 3.681, stating the right of patients to refuse treatment, 2024 (Brazil) \u2022 Federal Council of Medicine Resolution 1.805 authorizing orthothanasia, 2006 (Brazil) \u2022 Criminal Code, 1937, Art 115 (Switzerland)"},{"title":"Author of entry","value":"Carlos A. Pittella"},{"title":"First published","value":"21.05.2026"},{"title":"Last updated","value":"06.10.2026"}],"toggles":[{"title":"Reviews","list":[{"text":"Winnie Pereira, \u2018O Dia em Que Eva Decidiu Morrer n\u00e3o fala sobre suic\u00eddio, mas fala de um assunto que ainda \u00e9 tabu\u2026\u2019, Instagram, 2025","link":"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/leiapretaleia\/reel\/DOZWIojEdZ0\/","pathname":"instagram.com"},{"text":"Janaina Leme, \u2018Eu J\u00e1 Estive Em: O dia que Eva decidiu morrer, de Adriano Silva\u2019, Eu J\u00e1 Estive Em, 2025","link":"https:\/\/eujaestiveem.com\/2025\/07\/01\/eu-ja-estive-em-o-dia-que-eva-decidiu-morrer-de-adriano-silva\/","pathname":"eujaestiveem.com"},{"text":"Ticiano Os\u00f3rio, \u2018Por que n\u00e3o podemos decidir sobre quando e como morrer? Livro defende a morte volunt\u00e1ria assistida\u2019, GZH, 2025","link":"https:\/\/gauchazh.clicrbs.com.br\/colunistas\/ticiano-osorio\/noticia\/2025\/05\/por-que-nao-podemos-decidir-sobre-quando-e-como-morrer-livro-defende-a-morte-voluntaria-assistida-cmambypf60061012zvijmgkj4.html","pathname":"gauchazh.clicrbs.com.br"},{"text":"Ivan Finotti, \u2018Livro reflete sobre morte assistida ao narrar suic\u00eddio de fil\u00f3sofa brasileira aos 74\u2019, Folha de S.Paulo, 2025","link":"https:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/equilibrio\/2025\/02\/livro-reflete-sobre-morte-assistida-ao-narrar-suicidio-de-filosofa-brasileira-aos-74.shtml","pathname":"www1.folha.uol.com.br"}]},{"title":"Media citations","list":[{"text":"\u2018Adriano Silva: A morte n\u00e3o pode ser obrigatoriamente horr\u00edvel\u2019, Matinal, 2025","link":"https:\/\/www.matinaljornalismo.com.br\/parentese\/entrevista\/adriano-silva-a-morte-nao-pode-ser-obrigatoriamente-horrivel\/","pathname":"matinaljornalismo.com.br"},{"text":"\u2018Eva decidiu morrer: livro narra suic\u00eddio assistido de brasileira na Su\u00ed\u00e7a\u2019, VivaBem UOL, 2025","link":"https:\/\/www.uol.com.br\/vivabem\/noticias\/redacao\/2025\/03\/27\/livro-eva-decidiu-morrer.htm","pathname":"uol.com.br"},{"text":"\u2018Uma discuss\u00e3o sobre direitos de fim de vida\u2019, Show da Not\u00edcia \u2013 GLOBO, 2025","link":"https:\/\/futebolglobocbn.globo.com\/media\/audio\/456087\/uma-discussao-sobre-direitos-de-fim-de-vida.html","pathname":"futebolglobocbn.globo.com"},{"text":"\u2018Eva escolheu morrer: a hist\u00f3ria real da fil\u00f3sofa brasileira que viajou \u00e0 Su\u00ed\u00e7a para encerrar a vida com dignidade\u2019, Marie Claire, 2025","link":"https:\/\/revistamarieclaire.globo.com\/saude\/noticia\/2025\/02\/eva-escolheu-morrer-a-historia-real-da-filosofa-brasileira-que-viajou-a-suica-para-encerrar-a-vida-com-dignidade.ghtml","pathname":"revistamarieclaire.globo.com"},{"text":"M\u00f4nica Bergamo, \u2018Hist\u00f3ria real de mulher que optou por morte assistida ser\u00e1 contada em livro\u2019, Folha de S.Paulo, 2024","link":"https:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/colunas\/monicabergamo\/2024\/12\/historia-real-de-mulher-que-optou-por-morte-assistida-sera-contada-em-livro.shtml","pathname":"www1.folha.uol.com.br"}]},{"title":"Interest Group citations","list":[{"text":"\u2018Adriano Silva: Morte assistida n\u00e3o tem absolutamente nada a ver com idea\u00e7\u00e3o suicida\u2019, BoaMorte.org, 2026","link":"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/adrianosilva29\/reel\/DYPnJJ9oZni\/","pathname":"instagram.com"},{"text":"\u2018Carta Do Adeus \u2013 Quest\u00e3o de Vida #02\u2019, Sociedade Brasileira de Bio\u00e9tica, 2025","link":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=94FKs2VCteg","pathname":"youtube.com"},{"text":"\u2018Hoje, quem responde \u00e0 pergunta \u201cPor que sou a favor do direito de escolher pela morte assistida?\u201d \u00e9 Adriano Silva\u2019. Eu Decido, 2026","link":"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/eudecido_org\/reel\/DYAIfXmgbkU\/","pathname":"instagram.com"},{"text":"\u2018Como foi escrever O Dia Em Que Eva Decidiu Morrer? Um pouco dos bastidores da concep\u00e7\u00e3o e da execu\u00e7\u00e3o do livro\u2019, BoaMorte.org, 2025","link":"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/adrianosilva29\/reel\/DIJTNSyOtqS\/","pathname":"instagram.com"}]},{"title":"Legal and Paralegal citations","list":[{"text":"\u2018Testamento vital\u2019, Eu Decido, 19 December 2025","link":"https:\/\/eudecido.org.br\/testamento-vital\/","pathname":"eudecido.org.br"}]}]}