ANKARA
The European Court of Human Rights has begun hearing arguments on whether doctors can be allowed to take the life of French man suffering from quadriplegia, in a case which has triggered debate across France.
Vincent Lambert, 38, who has suffered quadriplegia as a result of severe brain damage since 2008, has expressed his desire to die, which has been supported by his 33-year-old wife Rachel.
But Lambert's parents, a half-brother and a sister, have said they are against the procedure being carried out.
Lambert sustained serious head injuries in a road-traffic accident on Sept. 29, 2008, as a result of which he lives in a state of complete dependence on others.
The legal battle began when a panel of three doctors backed a decision, taken on Jan. 11, 2014 by a doctor treating Lambert, to discontinue his artificial nutrition and hydration.
'Stop this madness'
France's highest administrative court gave its approval, but the European Court of Human Rights declared Lambert's life support system could not be removed.
Lambert's mother Viviane said as she arrived in Strasbourg on Tuesday night that she hoped "the ECHR will be able to stop this madness. Vincent is not at the end of his life, he is handicapped".
Quadriplegia is a condition in which the body is completely paralyzed from the neck down as the result of a spinal cord injury.
Lambert remains in hospital at a unit in Reims University Hospital dedicated to patients in a minimally conscious state, where he receives artificial nutrition and hydration administered through a gastric tube.
The court will make its decision on whether to let French quadriplegic die in about two months' time.
