Even three years after his serious accident, Noah (23) cannot come to terms with his paraplegia.
He decides to die.
ZDF documentary accompanies him during assisted suicide.
Again and again, the documentary series "37 degrees" takes up topics that show people in difficult everyday situations.
Rarely, however, does a film develop such a force and touch as deeply as "Death - The Best Decision of My Life", which ZDF is showing today at 10:20 p.m.
It is the story of 23-year-old Noah Berger, who takes author Tina Soliman and cameraman Torsten Lapp with him on his final journey.
Noah is 20 when he is hit by a tram on his way home from a get-to-know-you party for physical education.
When he wakes up from the coma, he is paralyzed from the neck down.
"Exercise was my life," remembers the former basketball pro, who earned his money with sport.
While still in the hospital chapel, he says to his mother: "I don't want that.
I would like to be dead please.” Words that hurt Claudia Berger deeply.
But the two reach an agreement: Noah should at least try to find his way in his new life.
And he fights hard, meets friends, becomes a basketball coach and begins studying psychology.
"The love of my family gave me the strength to get through these three years," he says.
"And yet I know now that I don't want to continue like this."
According to the legislation, anyone who decides to die in freedom can get help.
However, it must be checked whether the wish to die is constant.
Noah turns to an appropriate association and begins to plan his death.
A turbulent time for his mother, brother Janne and his friends.
Many tears flow in the film and it is difficult to hold back your own.
Because the interviews by author Tina Soliman show how carefully all those affected have thought about the circumstances.
While the ex-girlfriend accuses Noah of selfishness, mother Claudia begins to understand her son.
"He knows it's unbearable for us, and yet he can't be considerate.
Because the path he would take to make his family happy would make him deeply unhappy.” Loving also means letting go, says the remarkable woman, who accompanies him to his last breath when he broke his chin in February 2022 flipped the poison infusion switch.
She is certain: Noah will stay because he was there.