Last week, Victorian veteran firefighter Troy Thornton travelled to Switzerland to undergo voluntary euthanasia.
The 54-year-old, who had multiple system atrophy, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with no prospect of recovery, was forced to travel overseas to receive the lethal injection when he didn’t qualify for voluntary assisted dying in Victoria.
Although Victoria is the first state in Australia to legalise euthanasia, Troy was forced to travel overseas and be away from his friends, family and his two teenage children during his final moments as his illness was not considered terminal.
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Now, Troy’s wife Christine Thornton is sharing his story in the hope the same thing won’t happen to anyone else.
“You’ve got to have two doctors that will sign off to say that he will die in 12 months,” Christine explained to 9News.
“And they won’t do that. And you can’t prove or say that Troy will die in 12 months,” she added.
“I had to leave my children and my family and fly away from them to go to the other side of the world to have a choice that we should have here.”
In the interview, Christine also described her husband’s final moments in a Swiss euthanasia clinic last Friday.
“We were laying down, holding each other, talking to each other – right until the end,” she said.
“He just said, ‘no more words… I’m going’. And then with that, he sort of fell asleep.”
Troy's mother Barbra Thornon has also urged politicians to make euthanasia more accessible to avoid people having to travel overseas.
"There has to be something done about this," she told The Age.
"I hope this is his legacy... I will be proud of that and hopefully one day it will be passed and people won't have to travel."
Speaking to AAP prior to travelling to Switzerland, Troy explained that his disease would have progressed until he was in a vegetative stage.
“After a while it attacks different systems, breathing, swallowing. I’d end up drowning in my own mucous, that’s what happens,” he said.
"First you can’t swim, then you can’t run, walk, kick the footy with your children, you can’t surf, drive; eventually it takes your career. Then you end up being a vegetable."
Top Comments
I'm for it in general, but history shows it is being abused in countries that have it.
For instance, in 2005 in the Netherlands there were 2,410 deaths by euthanasia. 1 in 5 were euthanised without giving explicit consent, which is required under law.
Now, the reasons for it were certainly reasonable, and I do believe the doctors were doing what was best for the patients, but it is still a big issue.
In Belgium that figure raises to 32% being euthanised without giving explicit consent.
Pereira J. - Legalizing euthanasia or assisted suicide: the illusion of safeguards and controls. 2011
I'm not sure if the argument "but if we do this, then this follows.." is convincing when it seems like the INvoluntary euthenasia aspect you mention is more related to legal practices or interpretation of laws in that country. So essentially, those legal loopholes need to be addressed and a clear distinction needs to be made.
Having said that, I have not yet read the study you linked (thanks for that - much appreciated) which may debunk the 'illusion' of the safeguards I'm looking for, so I'll check it out.
I'm a strong supporter of voluntary euthenasia and I'd like to write a far longer reply but time constraints and vagaries of moderation are a factor.
Not sure the terms legal practices or interpretation of laws are the right phrases. These people were knowingly breaking the law.
But, as i said, I do believe they thought they were doing the right thing at the time. More than likely at the behest of the family but I don't have figures for that.
My comment was more to point out that these types of actions can actually become a slippery slope and it is likely that people will use it for cases other than it is intended.
I would have to see the intended law to know what could happen though. I believe it's unlikely the law will just let anyone get one who wants one.
oh boy, my intended reply (before editing) was so long it made the Lord of the Rings books seem like a limerick.
In essence, I'd just like to see/read/hear more Australians talking or thinking about what should be a critical factor in how much control people have at the end of their life with our increasingly ageing population.
Yes, very much in favour of more conversation, just thought I'd add some historical context to it.
This sort of falls under the 'Socialism will work, no one has tried REAL socialism before' type arguments.