It’s been almost four months since Christine Thornton lay beside her husband and whispered into his ear as he died in a Swiss euthanasia clinic.
It was a good death, the kind the couple had so desperately wanted. Peaceful. Dignified. Full of love.
Christine knew that Troy would still be able to hear her for about two minutes after the drugs began flooding his body.
“To me, that was peace of mind and I just made sure I said everything I could possibly think of to say,” the Victorian office manager and mother-of-two told AAP this week.
“I told him how much I loved him, and how I would make sure the kids would never forget him, that they would know how special they were to him.”
Staff had been asked to gently touch Christie on the head when they were certain Troy was gone but when that moment arrived, she knew instinctively.
Watch: Andrew Denton on euthanasia. Post continues after video.
“You can feel the difference. I felt it. He was no longer there. It was the shell.”
Soon afterwards, Christine was on a plane with Troy’s ashes, bound for their home state of Victoria and a sad reunion with their children Jack, 17 and Laura, 14.
Top Comments
"If the disease is allowed to run its course, sufferers are reduced to a vegetative state, and can often die choking on their own mucous as crucial functions like swallowing become impossible."
Who could possibly blame this man for wanting to end his life on his terms? People against euthanasia are very selfish, to put their beliefs ahead of someone who is suffering and who has the right to a dignified death. Because there is nothing dignified in allowing a disease like that to run its course.
I agree that euthanasia is justified and needed in certain cases. However, articles that describe a death as being necessarily and uniformly terrible are really unhelpful and scaremongering too - things are not so black and white. In many cases, excellent palliative care (of which we have a shortage in Australia, which often leads to the perception that all death is terrible) can alleviate suffering and distress. Euthanasia is not the only option to deliver a peaceful, dignified, controlled end - journalists should be a little more objective when writing about the matter. It's like suggesting giving birth is universally horrible unless everyone has a c-section. There are options out there - not just one good way in or out of this world for most of us.
I agree. I hope we see other states follow ViC, however it’s very sad that the new laws weren’t strong enough to help this man.
It amazes me that we have zero hesitation in putting our beloved pets to sleep when they are suffering in pain with no chance of recovery, yet we allow our loved ones to suffer in agony for months, sometimes years, when it's clear that they cannot, and will not ever recover.
I have watched several people, including my Mum, suffering from incurable cancer, wasting away in hospital beds for months. While it's incredibly sad to know you are losing you loved one, for me it's been even sadder watching them dying in pain, not being able to eat, move or use the toilet. Their dignity non-existent as they wait to die.
We euthanize our pets because it's "humane", yet we let humans die incredibly agonising and undignified deaths.
All that said and done. I have no idea what I would do if faced with the decision to end the life of a loved one. Even if they were able to make the decision themselves, I don't know how I would deal with that, whether I could support it or not.
Overall though, would you think it's fair to say there are limits to palliative care which don't enable someone to be a fully cognisant adult?
I'm so very glad we now have laws available in Victoria to allow this to happen here.
God, I am just about in tears reading this article and thinking about how this must be for a person.