For Brandi Galpin, choice is what matters most.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Horsham educator watched her father Neville die after a struggle with Motor Neurone Disease in 2016, aged 67. He had spent his life working as a sawmiller and was an accomplished golfer and footballer.
Miss Galpin said it would have made a difference to her father and family had voluntary assisted dying been an option in his final weeks.
"A lot of how the MND affected Dad had to do with his breathing," she said.
"He struggled to get breaths and needed help with his breathing towards the end. That was a very alarming feeling for him, as his breathing failed more."
Miss Galpin said after her father was diagnosed with MND, she looked into Dr Phillip Nitschke's pro-euthanasia group, Exit International. He was the first doctor in the world to administer legal lethal injections in the Northern Territory, where there was a short-lived law allowing assisted dying in the 1990s.
"Knowing he might have a chance not to suffer reassured him a little," she said.
"I think he also wanted us not to suffer because the prognosis for Motor Neurone Disease is that people will lose the ability to speak, move or do anything for themselves.
"In many ways, the progression of Dad's illness was a blessing because the first thing that went was his breathing - which meant we didn't go through several years of him being a voice in a chair. I think we were spared the worst, as horrible as it was."
Member for Lowan Emma Kealy shared Neville Galpin's story during the debate over the voluntary assisted dying bill in State Parliament in October 2017. Ms Kealy and Member for Ripon Louise Staley both eventually voted in favour of the bill.
Miss Galpin said since that time, many Wimmera residents told her they supported voluntary assisted dying, and not one had told her they disagreed with it.
"I think it's good we're getting the legislation in any form," she said.
"I think more options for Wimmera people will come if we can prove to everybody the legislation has the appropriate safeguards in the form it is now.
"It may have been that had he had the option, Dad would have chosen not to take the life-ending medication, but it would have reassured him to know he had that choice if he needed."
Miss Galpin thanked the Wimmera palliative care specialists who helped her father in his final days.
"I must recognise the terrible strain and stress that job must be for them in terms of watching the suffering my Dad went through and that others go through," she said.
While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox twice weekly from the Wimmera Mail-Times. To make sure you're up-to-date with all the news from across the Wimmera, sign up below.