Ten years ago, Dr. Donald Low was the voice of calm in the midst of crisis as the SARS outbreak swept Toronto, ultimately killing 44 people in Canada.

On Tuesday, just days after his death, he again resonated across the country from an online video in which the doctor pleaded for Canada to rethink its rules around assisted death.

The addition of his widely respected voice to the growing debate over medically assisted death is part of a “snowball” of support that’s rising across the country, said Wanda Morris, executive director of advocacy group Dying with Dignity.

“He’s a man who is so well-respected and so loved,” said Morris. “I would just really hope that people take that to heart and take action. . . . Make the wishes of this dying man a reality.”

The interview with Low was filmed just eight days before he died from a brain tumour on Sept. 18, at the age of 68.

He described his diagnosis in February and the symptoms he was suffering — problems hearing, seeing, a loss of strength. He knew the worst was yet to come.

“I know it’s got to end; it’s never going to get better,” said Low, who was chief microbiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital for more than 25 years. “I’m going to die. What worries me is how I’m going to die.”

Low said he feared paralysis; being unable to eat, breathe or swallow properly; needing to be carried from bathroom to bedroom.

In an interview with John Tory on Newstalk 1010, Low’s wife, Maureen Taylor, said he worried about his family having to take care of him.

“We wanted it that way. We’re very lucky that we have a strong family and we cared for him,” said Taylor. “But just stop and think about that for a minute — your children and what they’re going to have to see and do, who would want that? That’s the loss of dignity that people talk about.”

The video was produced by the Canadian Partnership against Cancer, which released it earlier than planned at the request of his family, said spokesperson Lee Fairclough.

Several European countries allow various forms of assisted death, along with a handful of U.S. states, but it remains illegal in Canada. That ban is currently before the courts, after the federal government appealed a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that the law was unconstitutional. The Quebec government has introduced a right-to-die bill, which would legalize medically assisted death.

Juliet Guichon, a University of Calgary professor specializing in health, law and ethics, said some physicians, trained to save people, don’t want to be responsible for their deaths. A 2011 Canadian Medical Association survey found 38 per cent of the country’s doctors are against legalizing assisted suicide, while 34 per cent were in support.

Some fear it’s a slippery slope that could lead to euthanasia and often people don’t know — nor want to know — a lot about dying.

Low’s posthumous statement could change some of that, said Guichon.

“He has the respect and affection of Canadians so when he speaks I think people will take very seriously what he has to say,” she said.

Low, a native of Winnipeg, co-authored nearly 400 peer-reviewed articles for scientific journals, 41 book chapters and almost 100 invited articles.

But it was during the 2003 SARS crisis that the microbiologist became a well-known public figure, calmly explaining to the public how the disease was spreading and risk factors associated with it.

Low’s wife told Newstalk 1010 that his condition deteriorated rapidly after the interview.

Near the end of the video, he said he hoped for a painless death, going to sleep one night and not waking in the morning.

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“I’m not afraid of dying; I could make that decision tomorrow,” said Low. “I just don’t want it to be a long, protracted-out process where I’m unable to carry out my normal bodily functions and talk with my family and enjoy the last few days of my life. The fear is that that is not going to happen.”

Taylor said she would have let him decide when the time to go was, had they had the option. He wanted a peaceful death.

“But that’s not how he went.”