In 2018 Professor David Goodall travelled from Australia to Switzerland.
The 104 year old biologist received international attention for wanting to end his life through Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) in Switzerland. David Goodall said: “My life has been rather poor for the last year or so. And I am very happy to end it.”.
David had been contemplating the idea of suicide for about 20 years. Even in his advanced age he was still not sick, but with old age came a decline in his hearing, eyesight, and a loss of independence. As the quality of life declined, he attempted to end his own life and failed on more than one occasion. Rather than risk another failed suicide he decided to explore the option of an assisted death in Switzerland.
Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) is legal in Switzerland, so long as the person has a stable wish to die, and the mental capacity to know about the consequence of opening the infusion to initiate the flow of Nembutal into their bloodstream. This barbiturate initially leads to an anesthetic deep sleep followed by total relaxation of all muscles, and then loss of life. This is a most peaceful ending to life, and as close as it gets to dying peacefully in one’s sleep – the situation we all hope for at the end of life – to fall asleep and just not wake up again. This practice is frowned upon by some who say it should be reserved for the terminally ill, however David Goodall advocated this practice be more accepted as a real choice for elderly of sound mind.
The person in charge and responsible for making David’s gentle, safe and dignified passing possible was Ruedi Habegger, who was working with Eternal Spirit at the time. David told Ruedi how impatient he was to have his VAD as quickly as possible because he feared that if he delayed any longer, he may have a fall and be unable to travel to Switzerland. He had already had a fall which had left him very frail. His great fear was spending the rest of his days confined to an elderly care facility – a prospect that filled him with horror. He told Ruedi that if the VAD didn’t happen soon, he would have no choice but to attempt to end his own life again.
Ruedi assured David that he would get everything ready, as quickly as possible, including a psychiatric assessment to confirm his mental capacity; in return David promised Ruedi that he would be patient, and wouldn’t make any reckless suicide attempts.
Once everything was in place for David’s VAD, Ruedi encouraged him to take a break in his journey to see relatives he had in different countries along the way. David couldn’t resist this suggestion and had a cherished holiday with his grandson and spouse in Bordeaux, Southern France, he loved this young couple and the place where they lived. After a short holiday there he came to Switzerland.
On arrival in Switzerland, Ruedi attempted to shield David from the many media requests. This was not necessary though, because David’s kindness and willingness to talk about his view on things was overwhelming.
There was a large press conference in Basel, with movie teams from all over the world, including Reuters and Associated Press and a film team from the Australian ABC. David Goodall told the worldwide press gathering around him, that VAD has to be more widely available.
“It is difficult to see the sense in having a 104 year old travelling this far, to be able to end life. At my age, and even at rather less than my age, one wants to be free to choose the death and when the death is the appropriate time,” David said.
The huge international press interest in David Goodall’s death was largely due to his advanced age, and the fact that he was not seriously ill. By wanting to die David was highlighting what is often referred to as Old Age Rational Suicide, this is where an elderly person has livid a full life and has rationalised that they are wanting to choose their time to leave this life while they still have their dignity intact. Ruedi Habegger has been at the forefront of this issue in Switzerland, and it was only appropriate that he was the person to guide David Goodall towards his absolute desire to die with dignity.
Ruedi had the honour of a very special evening with David where they had many lively conversations. Ruedi told David that he had been part of the World Rainforest Movement together with Bruno Manser. David mentioned, that he was not very optimistic about the climate and the implications for the ecosystems that we all depend on. David had advocated as early as the 1950’s and 1960’s to curb the world’s carbon-output. Seemingly not too many paid attention. He mentioned to Ruedi that he sees how mankind might botch it “not even the Paris-agreement will make the difference it ought to” he said. He stated his expectation, being the eco-scientist he had been all his life, that planet earth will recover and rebuild ecosystems and find it’s balance again. It has ample time, quite to the contrary of mankind, he said.
In his final gift to our humanity, David helped to establish the consciousness about self-determination at the end of life, that this needs to become the human right that it always should have been and be accessible to all. Horrible,often unsuccessful suicides ought to be a thing of the darkest of ages, he said.
His last words before losing consciousness were “this is taking an awfully long time” although it only took 84 seconds for him to fall asleep. David died shortly thereafter.
In choosing his own final moment, David Goodall forced the world to confront a truth some might ignore: that dignity at the end of life is not a privilege for the fortunate, but a fundamental right for all. His death was not an act of despair, but an act of clarity. He spent 104 years shaping the world with intellect and conscience, his last act was to remind us that personal autonomy does not stop at the threshold of death. His courage continues to echo far beyond that quiet room in Switzerland, urging humanity toward a more compassionate future.
Note – The experience of Professor David Goodall, and other famous people such as John Hofsess, inspired Ruedi Habegger to such a degree that Pegasos Swiss Association was born.
Pegasos operates in the memory of Professor David Goodall and John Hofsess