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Nightbirde: Why 2% is Better Than 0%
Why 2% is Better Than 0% I Bill Vassilopoulos
7/15/20263 min read
Nightbirde:
Why 2% is Better Than 0% I Bill Vassilopoulos
A clip from America’s Got Talent recently resurfaced on my feed. It was the 2021 audition of a 30-year-old singer who went by the name Nightbirde.
Wearing a simple black T-shirt and torn white jeans, she stood before the judges with a smile that could light up the world. When asked about her life, she gracefully revealed that she was unable to work due to a multi-year battle with cancer.
She sang an original song called "It's Okay." Standing on that massive stage, her physical vulnerability was obvious, yet she carried herself with the weightless, quiet grace of a bird poised to take flight. Despite her physical frailty—her body fighting a war on the inside—her voice and her spirit were resolute. When she told the judges she had only a 2% chance of survival, she followed it with a line that should be carved into the modern psyche:
"Two percent is better than zero percent. It’s okay if you’re lost, it’s okay to be scared."
Nightbirde touched Simon’s heart by saying, “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy.” Her words, raw and undeniable, prompted Simon to hit the Golden Buzzer. Although Nightbirde is no longer with us, her defiance remains. She chose to live every single second of her 2%, choosing to spend her final days finding meaning, beauty, and art in the struggle.
Watching her, I was overwhelmed by a profound sadness, but also a deep sense of familiarity. In my book, Eyes Above the Water: Real, Raw, and Respectful Talk about Suicide, I explore the fragile boundary between holding onto hope and giving up. I wrote that book because we live in a world where people are increasingly being told—either explicitly or through systemic neglect—that their lives are a burden and that letting go is the easiest path.
Nightbirde’s story is the ultimate antithesis of that lie. Yet, I can’t help but wonder what her journey would have looked like under a Canadian medical system that increasingly promotes Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) as a solution to suffering.
We are told that MAiD is protected by "strict safeguards" and "rigorous oversight." But the reality is a system of profound negligence where the rules are routinely breached:
Systemic Failure: Internal government reports from British Columbia's MAiD Oversight Unit revealed a staggering rate of non-compliance, finding 2,807 errors across 51.9% of all MAiD cases in 2024. Over half of the province's cases required corrective government follow-up.
Coercion and Bypass: In Ontario, death review committees have caught clinicians bypassing mandatory waiting periods and approving patients whose suffering was deemed to stem from socioeconomic vulnerabilities rather than terminal illness.
Zero Accountability: Despite hundreds of documented compliance issues, the regulatory and judicial systems have flatly refused to prosecute or discipline providers. Not a single doctor has faced criminal charges or meaningful discipline for these violations.
There is no shame in losing a battle to a terminal illness. Death is an inevitable part of the human condition. I watched my own father die a slow, painful death; it was agonizing, but it was real, and it was a part of life.
But there is a vast, dangerous difference between accepting death when it comes, and actively inviting a medical system to facilitate it because we have lost the courage to value suffering lives. When we make death easier to access than adequate palliative care, social support, or mental health resources, we are no longer offering "mercy"—we are offering abandonment.
As I argue in Eyes Above the Water, every single person has an inherent, irreplaceable value. No human being is a burden. No doctor should have the power to validate the lie that a patient's life is no longer worth living.
If you are struggling today, if you are sick, or if you feel like a burden to those around you, please remember these truths:
You are Irreplaceable
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..." — Jeremiah 1:5
You are Unrepeatable
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." — Psalm 139:14
You are Highly Valued and Not a Burden
"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." — Luke 12:6-7
For more honest, raw conversations about finding hope and survival in our darkest moments, you can find my book, Eyes Above the Water.
Warmly Your friend,
Bill Vassilopoulos