One of the two Quebecers who successfully fought to expand medically assisted dying laws has undergone the procedure, saying the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to push up his death.

Lawyers who represented Jean Truchon announced his passing in a statement on Tuesday, saying he received medical aid in dying at a Montreal-area long-term care facility.

“Before this pandemic, I had all the difficulties in the world keeping my head above water, with all my activities,” Truchon said in the statement, released by his lawyers after his death.

“The coronavirus has literally stolen my time with those I love. Seeing what is coming frightens me the most. Therefore, I made the decision to leave now and this was well thought-out.”

Truchon and Nicole Gladu — Quebecers who suffered from incurable degenerative diseases but didn’t qualify for a medically assisted death under the original rules, fought successfully to have the laws changed.

Their lawyers argued that the “reasonably foreseeable natural death” requirement of the Criminal Code, as well as a section the Quebec law that states people must “be at the end of life,” were overly strict and prevented access to medical assistance in dying for some.

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A Quebec Superior Court ruling invalidated those laws in September 2019.

The Trudeau government received more time to amend the federal law, until July 11.

In the interim, Baudouin ruled people who meet the other criteria for the procedure but whose natural death is not “reasonably foreseeable” can apply to a court for an exemption to receive an assisted death before the July 11 deadline.

Truchon and Gladu both received such exemptions at the time of her initial ruling.

“I ask you to try to understand me and not to judge me,” Truchon wrote in closing.

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