Sisters Lila Ammouri and Susan Frazier who died by assisted suicide in Switzerland had been healthy and happy prior to their death, their brother says.
Cal Ammouri, 60, told The Independent he last spoke to his sisters a few weeks before they travelled to Switzerland on 3 February, and there was no indication they were about to end their lives.
He said he had been kept in the dark by US Consular services about the cause of death.
“Nobody else really knows the specifics,” he told The Independent.
Lila Ammouri, 54, a palliative care doctor, and Ms Frazier, 49, a registered nurse, flew from Arizona to Switzerland via Chicago on 3 February without telling friends or family.
When they didn’t didn’t show up for work at Aetna Health Insurance on 15 February, colleagues raised the alarm, fearing they may have been kidnapped or held hostage.
Their death was confirmed by the US Consulate in Switzerland on 18 February.
Basel-Landschaft Public Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Michael Lutz told The Independent the sisters had died with the help of an assisted suicide organisation.
Mr Ammouri, who lives in New York City, said he was still coming to terms with the loss of his two sisters, who were his only living family.
“I’m never going to get over it,” he said. “I’m still shaken up, I’m all alone now. I am an only child now.”
He said his sisters were adored by everyone who met them.
“They were really special. They never hurt anybody. They were always helping everybody. They would go out of their way to help people, which is rare.
“Unfortunately it’s a tragedy, frankly.”
Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland “under certain conditions”, authorities said.
“In the specific case, the on-site checks by the authorities revealed that the assisted suicide took place within the legal framework, so that the Basel-Landschaft public prosecutor’s office did not open a criminal investigation,” Mr Lutz told The Independent.
