Vienna – The 104-year-old Australian scientist who has travelled to Switzerland to end his life with medical assistance hopes that his highly publicised move will change the thinking about euthanasia.
David Goodall an ecologist, is scheduled to die on Thursday in the care of the end-of-life clinic Lifecircle in Basel.
Goodall speaking at a press conference in Basel hoped his story would lead to more liberal laws in Australia, where assisted suicide is not legal.
He said, “I think there probably will be a step in the right direction,”
“Everyone over the middle age, unquestioned, should have the right to end their life as and when they chose.”
An euthanasia advocacy group, Exit International, a group Goodall has been a member for 20 years, campaigned to raise costs for the professor’s trip to Switzerland,, they raised 20,000 dollars.
Goodall showed no signs of nervousness or last-minute doubts about his decision.
The media asked what music he would like to hear in his last hour, he choice Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in German, he sang,
“Joy, beauteous, godly spark / Daughter of Elysium / Drunk with fire, O Heavenly One / We come unto your sacred shrine.”
Photo Credit- AP
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