Ken Attenborough’s mother died about 12 years ago as a result of a brain tumor, caused by melanoma. The suffering and humiliation his mother endured is not something he believes anyone should have to live through. “She was very weak after the chemo and the...
Dr Rodney Syme has a good discussion with Amanda Vanstone on ABC radio's Counterpoint program about his new book, ‘Time To Die’. Syme explains why he is a strong advocate for good palliative care, but why it is not enough to end all suffering at...
by Nikki Gemmell Helena wrote to me after my mother Elayn died, by her own hand, one bleak evening. My mum euthanised herself, by herself, in front of the telly – mindful that if she involved any of her children we’d be subjected to a police...
Rose Tyburczy, suffered with Corticobasal degeneration (a rare, progressive neurodegenerative disease) and wanted to die. She had hoped that a change in the law in South Australia would allow her the choice of medical assistance to die. When the Death with Dignity Bill 2016 failed...
Dr. Lianne Yoshida has been a family physician for 17 years in Nova Scotia, Canada. As of December 2016, she had helped four patients end their suffering. “When families have watched their loved one suffer for a long time, both the patients and families have...
In the 1960s, smoking was the epitome of glamour and sophistication. “Back then there was this myth that if you gave up smoking, all the damage done would be gone in 12 months….I can tell you that’s not true.” Says Judith Daley, Director of DWD...
On April 19, 2009, surrounded by close family, Nancy swallowed a mixture of applesauce and powdered barbiturates that would cause her to fall asleep and never wake up. Nancy, aged 58, had Lou Gehrig's disease, the progressive and incurable disorder destroys nerve cells that control...
“If you can think of the worst flu you’ve ever had and you get the cold sweats and then have someone stab a hot poker in your insides and just twist it around,” TJ Mutchler says in the video, referring to the pain he was...
Kate Tobin, a 51-year-old former nun who worked in the UK as a palliative care nurse for 10 years, is suffering through the latter states of multiple sclerosis. She wants to be allowed to die. “I am of the belief that when I die, God...
By Dr Sarah Edelman President of Dying with Dignity NSW Although he was in one of the best palliative care facilities in Melbourne, dying was a slow, cruel process. Since that time three more bills seeking to legalise assisted dying (in NSW, Tasmania and South Australia) have...