(LifeSiteNews) — On December 7, 2024, 28-year-old Ghanian artist Joseph Awuah-Darko made headlines when he announced that his mental illness — what he called treatment-resistant bipolar disorder — had made his life unbearable and that he was planning to be euthanized in the Netherlands. He claimed that it had taken him four years to get approved for euthanasia.

But he wasn’t planning to go out quietly. First, he was planning a project called “The Last Supper,” in which he would sit down with hundreds of strangers for a meal and conversation — all, of course, carefully documented on his social media sites. The press went wild, describing the suicide promo tour as a “deeply personal yet profoundly universal journey” in which Awuah-Darko would “create moments of warmth, understanding, and human connection before his time runs out.”

Of course, Awuah-Darko’s time wasn’t “running out.” He had requested, and then scheduled, suicide-by-doctor. His “Last Supper” project — which seems to be a deliberately blasphemous derivative of the Last Supper of the Lord Jesus Christ before His Crucifixion — was designed to send precisely the sort of message that Dying With Dignity pushes on the public. Death by lethal injection isn’t a terrible thing at all. It simply allows you to factor death into your plans — and while you wait, you can be a “bipolar foodie,” to boot.

Thousands of strangers immediately responded to the call. Some felt sorry for him; some, obviously, were morbidly fascinated by the prospect of dining with a condemned man, even if he had chosen the date and the executioner himself. Many others sent him prayers. Awuah-Darko hosted 147 dinners by the date of his planned euthanasia — July 30, 2025. But then, he cancelled his death. He is, as of writing, still alive.

Some responded to news of the cancellation by being angry and accusing Awuah-Darko of being a grifter. People get invested in their social media influencers and some, apparently, were upset at not getting the story arc they’d signed up for when they began following what they thought was his final journey. Many of the comments were frankly vile, especially when considering that they were directed at someone who has quite publicly struggled with mental illness and suicidal ideation. Some questioned the sincerity of his euthanasia plans. Social media can make us monsters.

But most missed the real takeaway from this story. According to Awuah-Darko, he has found a partner, and that has dissuaded him. He stated that “my personal stance on pursuing euthanasia has changed,” and that he knows he is allowed “to change my mind, as many others have,” and that he “will still continue to struggle with my bipolarity and PTSD,” but that he is now “grateful to continue breaking bread with strangers who are willing and open to connecting with me.”

I am glad that Awuah-Darko has cancelled his euthanasia, and that he is alive. But the fact that his “Last Supper” suicide tour was so universally celebrated is a symptom of a deep social sickness. The fact that so few questioned his decision to be euthanized because he struggled with mental illness sends an excruciatingly harmful message to all those — and there are millions — with similar struggles: Give up. There’s a way out — and the exit can even be glamorous. Worst of all is the fact that state-sanctioned euthanasia is even available for mental health struggles, a scourge that will be coming to Canada soon if it is not stopped.

Perhaps Awuah-Darko’s critics are correct, and his entire tour was merely a gambit for attention. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least. People struggling with suicidal ideation often tell people of their plans in order to give people the opportunity to stop them. Perhaps those 147 “last suppers” were instrumental in giving him the will to fight on. The message for all of us is that we must fight euthanasia for mental illness every way we can. Awuah-Darko changed his mind. But in our social media age, it is inevitable that we will soon witness similar stories that end not with a changed mind but at the end of a needle.