MS sufferer wants dignified death

Unable to walk and stripped of her independence after living with multiple sclerosis for more than 20 years, former nurse Jill feels life has become an unbearable prison.

Less than five months after right-to-die campaigner Christian Rossiter died following a landmark Supreme Court decision which allowed his nursing home to comply with his wish to starve to death, the State Government's stance against euthanasia is set to be challenged again after the former registered nurse yesterday stopped taking medication which will prolong her life and pleaded to be allowed to die with dignity.

Jill, who did not want her last name published, said her quality of life was non-existent and she was prepared to die a "slow and ugly" death rather than "suffer the indignity" of having the debilitating condition rule its course.

Jill said that since being diagnosed with the neurological condition in 1988 she had lost the ability to walk and found it difficult to talk, swallow and eat.

Her vision had deteriorated until she could no longer watch television or read. She had lost control of her bodily functions and she had to relinquish the motorised scooter which was her only means of leaving her unit.

Jill said while she knew she could legally refuse to take medication or food, she previously had not wanted to put her family through the pain of seeing her slowly die. But she said she no longer wanted to endure the "degradation" of her worsening condition and without the option of legal voluntary euthanasia, she said she had been stripped of her freedom to choose to die legally and with dignity.

A side effect of multiple sclerosis caused fluid to build up in her body. Without her medication, Jill said the fluid would cause her body to swell and, over the course of weeks or months, would slowly "drown" her internal organs and most likely lead to organ failure.

"I think it will take time. I think it could be long and ugly but I can't suffer any more indignity than I already have," she said. "The humiliation of knowing an animal is given more compassion than a human being is beyond words."

The grandmother had previously attempted suicide and tried to buy illegal drugs to take an overdose but said she did want not to die in a "covert fashion". In a petition that was read to Parliament in 2008, Jill begged for legislation that would allow her children to be by her side at her death without fear of prosecution.

She realised laws would not be changed in time to affect her situation but hoped her case, like Mr Rossiter's, would reignite public debate over voluntary euthanasia.

Jill's lawyer, John Hammond, said the 61-year-old's plight was "heartbreaking" and highlighted the need for a clear stance on legal voluntary euthanasia.

Greens MP Robin Chapple, whose euthanasia Bill is expected to be debated when Parliament resumes, said he sympathised with Jill's plight but was unable to condone her actions.