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Australian academic David Goodall leaves for Switzerland to end his life

WION Web Team
Delhi, IndiaUpdated: May 05, 2018, 01:30 PM IST
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File photo. Photograph:(Reuters)

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Goodall will receive voluntary euthanasia at a clinic in Basel, Switzerland

Australian academic David Goodall left for Switzerland today to end his life. Goodall turned 104 last month and made just one wish, to end his life.

In a video released by Reuters, Goodall notes that he enjoyed his life until he was 90 years old after which he didn't.  

"I greatly regret having reached that age," Goodall said.

Goodall will receive voluntary euthanasia at a clinic in Basel, Switzerland. His home state, Western Australia, identifies voluntary euthanasia as illegal.

The state of Victoria became first in Australia to legalise assisted dying last year limiting the provision to only terminally ill.

Goodall's family supports his decision and respects his choice to end his life. 

"He's lived a really good 104 years, and so whatever happens, whatever choices are made, they're up to him," Goodall's daughter Karen noted. 

Born in London, the United Kingdom on April 4, 1914, David William Goodall AM was an honorary research associate at Edith Cowan University until recently. 

Goodall moved to Australian in 1948 and lived as an academic, botanist and ecologist studying the development of numerical methods in ecology, particularly the study of vegetation.

(With inputs from Reuters