On June 11th, The Age reported a tragic story highlighting the urgent need for reform in Victoria’s Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) legislation. Currently, not everyone suffering at the end of life is eligible for VAD, denying them a gentle and humane death.

This article also raises the concept of a completed life an issue that the late Dr Rodney Syme vigorously pursued and wrote about in his recently posthumously published book ‘A Completed Life’.

We acknowledge the tremendous amount of strength and courage it must have taken Cherryl to speak out about her intensely personal plight and that of her late husband Ron. Ron was an Ambassador for Dying with Dignity Victoria (DWDV) and we were deeply grateful for his support.

Cherryl’s message will resonate with so many and will do so much to further the cause.

We sincerely thank her.

The DWDV team

This article is behind a paywall on The Age and can be found via this link: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/cherryl-barassi-relished-life-now-she-says-it-is-time-to-go-20240607-p5jk3n.html