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Whatsapp Voluntary euthanasia remains a polarising issue

Voluntary euthanasia, or assisted death, is a legal and moral minefield. Andrew Denton introduces us to a woman whose pain has progressed beyond the prospect of any relief, which has led her to a challenging and drastic solution.

Why has Andrew Denton decided to tackle the painful and polarising issue of euthanasia?

'My dad used to joke that he wanted to go by walking into the shallow end of a swimming pool filled with single malt whiskey —and just keep walking. Sadly that never happened,' Andrew Denton says.

'Watching him die remains the most profoundly shocking experience of my life. With my sisters, I stood helplessly by as death picked up this strong man and shook him out until he was nothing.'

I’m not considering ending my life—cancer is doing that for me.

That experience led Denton to research the risks and complications of voluntary euthanasia. Along the way he met Liz*, a dynamic, entrepreneurial woman in her forties with a very rare and aggressive form of cancer, who has just months to live.

'It's a non well-defined cancer and they can't control it,' Liz says. 'They don't know how it behaves, but more than likely it's going to continue to behave badly.'

Liz has endured several operations, including a full abdominal hysterectomy. Her appendix, gall bladder and parts of her small intestine were removed. But from now on, all treatment is palliative.

Her major concern now is that her pain can't be controlled, a fear that has driven her to research ways she could be helped to die. Liz asked her doctor for support, but he refused.

'[He said] "Because it means I would have failed at my job." It was those words exactly,' she says. 'I found it curious that it had nothing to do with me.'

That experience made her angry.

'You're on painkillers, you're in pain, you're detached from your brain anyway, you're scared, you've got cancer, you're going through chemo, you're still trying to understand what's going on, you're being told by doctors you don't have much longer—and here is a doctor invoking his God powers.

'I felt judged. The judgement was: you would actually consider ending your life? It's actually an incorrect judgement. I’m not considering ending my life—cancer is doing that for me. I don't have a choice in that; I just don't want pain. And you, the palliative expert can't control it, and yet you want me still to die experiencing it? And you judge me because I don't want to do that?'

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Whatsapp The painful death of his father led Andrew Denton to explore the risks and complications of voluntary euthanasia

Liz obtained a drug on the internet and researched how to use it, a process she says was frightening, alienating and—because of the law—done entirely in secret. She's worried about what might happen to her loved ones if she did use it, and says all she really wants is a peaceful death.

'One of the things you do is talk to the people you love and tell them what your plans are. I started thinking about the people that I would want to be with me. I actually feel sorry for them. But one way or another they're going to be with me when I die peacefully, or be with me in a hospice over days, weeks, months, when I die badly. That's more traumatic.

'I'm starting to get fearful. So far I'm not fearful of death. I don't want to die, obviously. I'm fearful of that end road to death. I know they can't control my pain.'

The situation is such that Liz would have to administer the final dose on her own to make sure there'd be no risk of incriminating her family and friends.

The anguish and desperation of the dilemma Liz faces is felt deeply by her family, says her brother Jason.

'You fight. You fight to the death, you don't give up in any way. I now see that's not necessarily the smartest, not the bravest, not the most courageous thing. But if you look at all other options, that is the option to go through, I support her.

'[It's] not a case of valuing life, it's a case of valuing the beauty of life. Life without quality is not life at all. It's a very simple thing. Liz is a fighter, she's been a fighter in business, she's a fighter in life. I'm proud of her.'

If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline: 13 11 14.



*Editor's note: This article has been updated to remove Liz's surname, at her request 25/1/16.