Family fumes after elderly man was forced gasp for breath for 100 days before being given euthanasia pills - which he chased down with a beer
- Allan Cornell, 74, gradually lost control of his body to motor neurone disease
- He applied to legally end his life in March but had to wait 100 days for approval
- His daughter Kristin struggled to find three doctors to approve the application
- Ms Cornell says applications need to be easier to prevent unnecessary suffering
- After suffering for weeks, Mr Cornel legally ended his own life on Wednesday
- He ingested a lethal powder and washed it down with a gulp of beer
A dying man with motor neurone disease who was 'confused and breathless' in his final weeks alive spent 100 days in a pain before he was given drugs to end his life.
Allan Cornell, 74, legally ended his suffering by washing down lethal powder with a beer in Point Lonsdale, Victoria on Wednesday.
Mr Cornell applied to end his own life when he reached the disease's final stages in March but it wasn't approved until June 9.
Now, Mr Cornell's daughter Kristin is frustrated by how hard it was to approve her father's application, saying laws need to 'do better' to prevent unnecessary suffering.
Allan Cornell (left), 74 and his daughter Kristin (right). Mr Cornell had to wait 100 days with motor neurone disease to end his own life while his daughter struggled to find three neurologist to approve his application
To complete her father's application, Ms Cornell needed to get three neurologists to approve it, which she found difficult living in a rural area.
While she was able to get one neurologist on board fairly quickly, it look her weeks to get second and third experts to agree.
During this time, MND was taking over Mr Cornell's body, making it hard for him to breath or use his muscles.
'He (Mr Cornell) became so confused towards the end and he kept saying "where are the pills, where are those bloody pills?'". He just had this horrible feeling of breathlessness. He suffered for days,' Ms Cornell told The Age.
The application process took so long that Mr Cornell wanted to give up, fearing that it would not be approved before MND finished him.
'It's too hard. Too much bloody box ticking. Why do the bureaucrats get to make things so hard for me? It’s my life,' Mr Cornell said his final days, according to the publication.
Three doctors need to approve a euthanasia application under Victoria's Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017.
The state is also facing a shortage of euthanasia-accredited neurologists with only 410 doctors having registered or completed the required training.
Mr Cornell and his daughter Kristin. Ms Cornell is is frustrated by how hard it was to approve her father's euthanasia application, saying laws need to 'do better' to prevent unnecessary suffering
Ms Cornell said it needs to be easier to approve a euthanasia application to avoid unneeded stress and pressure in an already difficult time.
'We must do better. It shouldn’t be so hard to find a doctor willing to help that you are tempted to give up,' she said.
The Cornell family had to watch Mr Cornell gradually lose control of his limbs before he was finally able to end his life and don't want other family's to do the same.
Lobby group Voluntary Assisted Life Ending (VALE) said safeguards in Victorian legislation protect doctors rather than dying patients.
'Voluntary Assisted Dying Legislation criteria is so rigid that it makes accessing it nearly impossible,' the group wrote on Facebook.
'"Safeguards" in the Victorian legislation don't necessarily apply to the person who is dying, but rather anyone that falls under the banner of a "health professional".
'The result is not balanced in the favour of the individual dying who wants to access the legislation.'
