A young South Australian woman used the state’s laws on voluntary assisted suicide to terminate her life.
Despite being in “excruciating pain” and having a fatal illness, Lily Thai, 23, “passed away peacefully” on Wednesday.
According to an obituary that appeared in The Advertiser, Thai passed away at the Laurel Hospice in the Flinders Medical Centre.
Daughter of Kate and Le, dearly loved. beloved cousin, niece, and grandchild. Many people count you as a dear friend, the family wrote in the notice.
Six years after Thai was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), which makes the sufferers’ joints floppy and their skin delicate and puts them at danger of serious harm, voluntary assisted death became legal in South Australia in January.
She was no longer able to move, use her bowels, eat, or drink without being sick a year later.
She learned that an autoimmune condition called Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy was causing her organs to fail.
She told the neighborhood newspaper, “I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve lost control of everything else in my life, and I’ve been reliant on my dad as a caregiver to do everything for me, even the most intimate things.”
According to her obituary, Lily Thai passed away on Wednesday in the afternoon.
Her mother, who Thai claimed could not stand to hear the teen sign the consent form, was particularly troubled by her decision to terminate her life.
Mom (had to leave the room because it was too much), but they understand my choice and prefer not to watch me suffer any longer, Thai stated.
During Thai’s dying days, a friend and ambulance worker named Danika Pederzolli drove her to the beach so she could take in the sights, sounds, and fragrances of the ocean one last time.
Then, when Thai was too ill to leave the hospital, her loved ones came to say their final goodbyes at her bedside.
On Wednesday afternoon, a drug that would have killed her was scheduled to be administered.
On Thursday morning, a funeral service for Thai will be performed at Centennial Park Cemetery.
