Victorian firefighter Troy Thornton has died in a Swiss euthanasia clinic, leaving a powerful message for Australian politicians and voters.
He wanted the nation to think about the concept of dying well, and to challenge the notion that choosing death was wrong.
Mr Thornton, 54, died by lethal injection late on Friday, Australian time. His wife Christine was there to hold his hand, but he died without his two teenage children by his side.
Mr Thornton had wanted to legally end his life in Australia, but despite Victoria becoming the first state to legalise voluntary assisted dying, he did not qualify.
His disease, multiple system atrophy, was a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which there was no treatment nor the prospect of recovery , although it could take many years.
Mr Thornton was unable to find two doctors willing to say with certainty he would die within 12 months, which would have qualified him for assisted dying under Victorian law.
That left him with Switzerland as a solution, albeit without his children, his extended family and his circle of friends.
Source: The Herald Sun Digital Edition: Victorian ends life in euthanasia clinic
This article is from the February 24, 2019 issue of The Herald Sun Digital Edition.
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