David Goodall, the 104-year-old Australian scientist, who came to Switzerland to end his life, died Thursday at 12:30 p.m. according to Exit International, the association that helped him. He benefited from an assisted suicide procedure that his country refused him in the absence of terminal illness.
David Goodall had never imagined ending his life so far from home: aged 104, this former Australian scientist had to travel to Switzerland to end his life legally. He did not suffer from any terminal illness and could not benefit from an assisted suicide procedure in Australia. Yet he nevertheless felt that his quality of life had deteriorated too much, with physical decline and impaired sight and hearing, and that “it was time for him to go”.
Exit remembers a remarkable life and death. Our oldest member, 104 yr old Professor David Goodall dies in Basel, Switzerland with Life Circle, to music Ode an die Fruede (Beethoven’s 9th) and an infusion of Nembutal https://t.co/4HyLAjAyEQ pic.twitter.com/TgFktliVdr
– Philip Nitschke (@philipnitschke) May 10, 2018
Thursday, after a last meal with his family, in an apartment loaned by the Eternal Spirit foundation, he went to lie down and an assistant gave him an infusion. In accordance with the legislation in Switzerland, it was David Goodall himself who opened the infusion to release the lethal cocktail based on sodium pentobarbital, a sedative used in anesthesia. He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his grandchildren and a friend.
“I don’t want to go to Switzerland”
A peaceful end but desired elsewhere: at home in Australia. “I would have preferred to end my life in Australia and I really regret that Australia is lagging behind Switzerland,” David Goodall explained to reporters on Wednesday in a hotel in Basel.
David Goodall ends his life at 104 with a final powerful statement on euthanasiahttps://t.co/81aDegL1D6 pic.twitter.com/gDOWVhawzb
– ABC Perth (@abcperth) May 10, 2018
“This is all the atrocity. This old man (…) should be able to die at home, in his bed, as we can do here in Switzerland”, indignant Ruedi Habegger, co-founder of Eternal Spirit, the foundation that helped David Goodall. He had made a failed suicide attempt earlier this year in Australia.
Faced with the refusal of the Australian authorities to allow him to benefit from an assisted suicide, he then resigned himself to coming to Switzerland where several foundations offer this possibility, to Swiss and foreigners. “I don’t want to go on living anymore,” he said to the media, saying he had no hesitation.
Different laws
In Australia – and as in many countries – assisted suicide is illegal. Only assisted death will be legal from June 2019 in the State of Victoria, for people whose life expectancy is estimated at less than 6 months. “
In Switzerland, anyone in good mental health who has expressed a wish to die for a certain period of time is entitled to request an assisted voluntary death (AVD). Only minors, people incapable of discernment or suffering from mental illnesses without serious physical suffering, can not have access to this right.
“If a healthy person comes in and says, ‘I’m sane and decided to die, it’s not your business, in theory,’ says Ruedi Habegger. Every year, his facility helps around 80 people put end of life, 75% of whom are foreigners, in the majority of cases the elderly or in poor physical health, or even suffering.
The “assisted voluntary death” procedures
A person wishing to put an end to his life between the walls of this Swiss clinic must present his request for “assisted voluntary death” to the members of the office of the Foundation. Eternal SPIRIT. These then decide whether the reason for the request corresponds to the rules of the foundation and possibly forward the file to a Swiss doctor for an additional assessment.
“For members residing abroad, two in-depth interviews are required with two Swiss doctors who will serve to verify that the request for assisted voluntary death is in accordance with Swiss regulations,” states the site from the clinic. People coming from abroad must therefore prepare to stay 3 or 4 days in Switzerland before the MVA “.
Sleep, then death
The patient signifies his death wish again on the day of assisted voluntary death. After confirmation, he himself absorbs a product that prevents him from vomiting, then the lethal product (which can also be taken by infusion). A camera films all these steps: “it is the only reliable proof that the member has taken the product himself”, says the clinic.
Sleep then occurs within a few minutes and death follows approximately thirty minutes later. Family and loved ones can be present throughout the process. If the patient is Swiss, his assisted suicide takes place at home, in his bed. “It is not painful. It’s short and peaceful “.
David Goodall has requested that there be no ceremony after his death.
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