Mar 27 2009
Angie’s Choice; A lonely death, Outside the Law
Angie’s choice: a death with dignity
Julia Medew
March 25, 2009
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Fearful of the long, arduous deaths she had watched in palliative care units, Ms Belecciu arranged last year with another terminally ill man, Don Flounders, to obtain Nembutal – a potent barbiturate commonly used to euthanase animals.
Restricted by her illness, she paid for some of the costs Mr Flounders and his wife Iris faced to travel to Mexico, where the drug could be purchased over the counter at veterinary clinics. When Mr Flounders arrived with her Nembutal last year, Ms Belecciu said she had never felt more relief: “The weight was gone, my fear was gone.”
But after Mr Flounders made his journey public by talking to Channel Seven, his and Ms Belecciu’s homes were raided by federal police last year. The police did not find their drugs and the case appeared to be closed.
On hearing of Ms Belecciu’s death this week, Mr Flounders said he would not be surprised if he and his wife’s “file” was reopened. “What are they going to do? Put us in prison? I’m bed-ridden most of the time, so it would have to be in hospital, which would make it even worse from a publicity point of view for them,” he said.
Dr Nitschke said although he might also be sailing close to the edge of the law for his organisation’s role in introducing Mr Flounders to Ms Belecciu, he did not think the police would arrest Mr Flounders, who has mesothelioma.
On his own position, Dr Nitschke said he always had legal concerns when interacting with people who were planning their deaths and wanting to tell their story because the laws about what constituted assisted suicide remained vague. “One can make mistakes. I hope we haven’t made any mistakes in this regard,” he said.
Ms Belecciu is the latest in a line of Australians – including Angelique Flowers, Max Bell, Bob Dent, Janet Mills and Lisette Nigot – who have made their deaths public in the hope of forcing a change to Australian laws.
Dr Nitschke said he was not confident the Federal Government or any of the states and territories would be brave enough to change the laws any time soon.
While Greens senator Bob Brown is trying to introduce a bill to allow Australian territories to independently decide their own laws on this issue, Dr Nitschke said it would be a tiny step in the process. “Waiting for politicians or for legislative change is like waiting for bloody hell to freeze over.”
Footnote: I find it quite annoying that articles reporting suicide methods dealing with voluntary euthanasia the key issue, as referring readers to Beyond Blue and Helpline. The media in keeping with government guidelines is not genuinely understanding that any person involving themselves in a hastened death, has no purpose left to live.
A future of continuing deterioration and even more physical and physiological damage is not going to serve them in any way whatsoever.
I too will choose to end my suffering more quickly than the law permits when and if I should ever find myself in the same circumstances as Angie Belecciu. I don’t promote suicide for others to consider, but I most certainly understand the need in a rational human being to be at least given the same options for a good death, as my dog!
We go to jail for not effectively treating an animal with the ultimate relief of pain and yet humans are expected to all suffer based on the few religious and active lobbyists who see a purpose in suffering for their own souls and wish to inflict that rubbish on me.
I resent their interference in my wellbeing and know that one day, simple compassion will overtake the zealots to continue watching others suffer. Give them tea and sympathy but nothing else, the Catholic Church implies! Not so all Churches thank goodness. There are Ministers throughout the Christian world who do understand that tolerance for pain is a very personal matter and not one for others to judge for the individual!
Angie herself was a palliative care nurse and fully understood what was in store for her in the palliative care units which abound in funding every time there is an active push for voluntary euthanasia. The knowledge she gained from her experience ensured that given a choice, she preferred a hastened death.
That she needed to die alone is a tragedy which is abound around Australia. Angie was one of the lucky ones – she had Nembutal which is a painless method of dying. However others less fortunate have to resort to devious means to provoke the successful termination of life, and those in the know, will understand full well, how desperately the body beautiful wants to ’survive’……People try the most gruesome of methods and can yet ’survive’…It is an established fact that people (farmers, policemen) with guns in their mouths can succeed only in blowing away half their face and still the medicos will rehabilitate them. They fail to blow their brains out because of the involuntary tremor of the hand due to the stress related to the action itself…..
Death is a friend to many suffering intolerable pain, and I will welcome it with open arms when I cease to function as a person with the will and the expectations of living a full and contented life.
Angie Belecciu is at peace (half the battle is being able to help oneself before a total breakdown of the body prevents self help being an option)
Angie’s wish: death with dignity
After nearly two decades fighting cancer – and days before she took her own life – Angie Belecciu says Australia needs to rethink its euthanasia laws.