“Knowing she is sliding into dementia, Lily Harford is ready to give up her life……..but can she persuade someone to commit the illegal act of taking it from her?”
About the author – Joanna Buckley writes fiction focussed on the timeless roles, challenges and inner lives of women, scaffolded on important social and ethical issues…. Lily Harford’s Last Request was inspired by the author’s witnessing as a teenager the trauma and misery of her grandfather succumbing to dementia, then decades later her father begging his five children to help him die when he in turn began to lose his memory.
This powerful and extremely thought provoking book, addresses two critical societal issues, dementia and Assisted Dying. It will be available in bookshops on February 2.
Please note: This book details the suffering caused by dementia. Dementia is explicitly ruled out as a criterion for Voluntary Assisted Dying in the Australian States with VAD legislation and is not contemplated in any future legislation.
https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781867232469/lily-harfords-last-request
This Post Has 3 Comments
Gordon Rough
21 Feb 2022Surely there needs to be a push to include Dementia as a criterion for involvement with Assisted Dying
There are so many of us in a cognitive state that rue the day when we cannot function due to the disease which runs in the family. It is a disease and its final outcome is death and along the way there is great pain and angst which is a benefit to no one, the patient, the family the care givers or the community
Gordon Rough
21 Feb 2022My father, when faced with the inevitable, put a rifle to his head and brought on his ultimate death
The violence, the stigma, the memories have been with me now for over 30 years and there is not a day goes by that I do not feel the frustration of his situation and my grief at finding him. ‘The vision of his gaunt and frail body dripping blood and brains onto the dirty dusty old out building is something that Hitchcock could not have conceived
Jane Morris
10 Apr 2022Gordon, May I sincerely apologize for this tardy response. I have only just now seen your story about the horrific death of your father.
You must have been and still remain so traumatized by the action that he was forced to take. What an absolutely horrific event for you all. One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is that of dementia patients being considered eligible for Voluntary Assisted Dying. However, our law, and the VAD legislation of other Australian states states that a person must be deemed competent throughout the entire process.
Your story is so very sad and tragically not a unique one. If you would to write it up and send it to us, we could post it on our site. This can initiate discussion amongst others and help other people, such as yourself, speak out, about their experiences.
Again, I am so very sorry that your messages have only now come to our attention.
Take care
The DWDV team