Toronto-area family wants changes to MAID after diabetic son euthanized
· Toronto Sun
The Toronto-area family of a 26-year-old diabetic man who received medical assistance in dying (MAID) late last year wants to see changes to the program after they say health care professionals failed to protect him.
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Kiano Vafaeian was euthanized in British Columbia on Dec. 30, 2025 after he initially sought out the procedure in Ontario.
“Kiano will be deeply missed by his loving parents, Joseph and Margaret, and his sisters, Alexandra, Montana, Victoria, and Sabrina,” the family wrote in his obituary .
“He was a cherished son and brother whose presence meant more than words can express to those who knew and loved him.”
According to his family, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at four years old and a car crash at 17 left him struggling with mental health issues.
Lost vision in eye
His mother said he lost vision in one eye in 2022 due to diabetes. That was when he became “obsessed” with MAID.
“He kept on emphasizing about how he could get approved,” Margaret Marsilla told Fox News .
“We never thought there would be a chance that any doctor would approve a 22- or 23-year-old at that time for MAID because of diabetes or blindness.”
In June 2016, the federal government passed legislation allowing adults 18 years or older who either have a serious and incurable illness, disease or disability, in an advanced state of irreversible physical decline, or have enduring and intolerable physical or psychological suffering that cannot be alleviated.
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However, legislation was passed a year ago to extend the temporary exclusion of mental illness as the sole reason for MAID to March 17, 2027.
Vafaeian was approved for the lethal injection in 2022 by a Toronto doctor, but his family voiced their opposition when they launched a campaign on social media to stop it from going any further.
Following the public outcry, the doctor withdrew approval of euthanasia. That left Vafaeian angry at his family.
However, his mother said his mood improved the following year and he eventually moved back in with the family.
“He tried his best when he was in one of those good highs of life,” Marsilla said. “Then winter, fall started coming around, he started changing and then everything that we had worked for from spring and summertime just disappeared … he would start talking about MAID again.”
After he was rejected by several doctors in Ontario, Marsilla said he turned to a physician in B.C. who provided MAID.
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Doctor ‘coached’ son
She believes that doctor “coached” her son to help him meet the criteria for people who are not facing imminent death.
“We believe that she was coaching him … on how to deteriorate his body and what she can possibly approve him for and what she can get away with approving him for,” Marsilla said. “Because if he had spoken back in 2024, and he was a good candidate for approving MAID, she would have done it right away, but she didn’t.”
Vafaeian’s parents were not notified of his death until days later.
“This whole process came to us as a shock,” Vafaeian’s stepfather Joseph Caprara said.
Marsilla shared news of his passing on Facebook in early January.
“Four years ago, here in Ontario, we were able to stop his euthanasia and get him some help,” she wrote. “He was alive because people stepped in when he was vulnerable and not capable of making a final, irreversible decision.”
Approval based on mental illness
Marsilla said the Canadian system “tragically” approved his death based on mental illness.
“This is disgusting on every level. And I promise I will fight this tooth and nail for my son and other parents who too have children that suffer from mental illness,” she wrote.
Days later, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani was also critical about how Vafaeian’s case was handled by health care professionals.
“He was not terminally ill. He was not dying. He was a young man struggling with mental health issues,” the member representing Bowmanville—Oshawa North wrote on Facebook .
“Instead of receiving treatment from his government, he received euthanasia.”
Doctor defends decision
The doctor who performed euthanasia on Vafaeian issued a statement to Fox News defending the decision.
“Like my colleagues, every patient I approve for Track 2 has unbearable suffering from a grievous and irremediable medical condition (not psychiatric) with an advanced state of decline in capability and consents to MAID fully informed about treatments to reduce the suffering,” Dr. Ellen Wiebe wrote.
Marsilla wants the federal government to remove Track 2 from eligibility.
“Realistically, safeguards for patients would be reaching out to their family members, giving them a whole bunch of different treatment options,” Marsilla said.
She claims the current system allows doctors to approve MAID as quickly as 90 days on Track 2.
“How is that safe for patients?” Marsilla asked.