I want everyone to know that this alternative exists for people like Karl - independent, proud people who know what they want. A dignified death at a time and place of their choosing, writes Francoise Jewell

In the first six months of voluntary assisted dying in Queensland, 591 people commenced the process and 245 people died from administration of a VAD substance, a new report reveals.

Many dying people believe you must choose between palliative care and voluntary assisted dying (VAD). In fact, around 80% of people who choose VAD also receive good quality palliative care right up until the end. 

Here, Kay Fraser tells how Queensland palliative care doctors and nurses looked after her husband John for months until he chose an assisted death.

Suffering intolerably with terminal lung and bowel cancer, 78-year-old Irene Bizon was one of the first Queenslanders to use the state’s voluntary assisted dying law.

Suffering intolerably with terminal lung and bowel cancer, 78-year-old Irene Bizon was one of the first Queenslanders to use the state’s voluntary assisted dying law.

Susan Reilly was 27 when she watched her mother Lesley die from breast cancer. Now 47, Susan is also fighting breast cancer – and could have just 12 months to live. She is relieved that, 20 years on, voluntary assisted dying is now legal in Queensland.

Jan Cumner’s mother Dorothy was 80 when she suffered back pain that turned out to be bowel cancer. By the time it was diagnosed it was too late. After watching mum die, Jan says VAD should be a choice for everyone.

As Virginia Fewster’s late husband Michael became increasingly ill from cancer, the couple’s adult sons helped with his care, a situation which caused their proud father ‘so much pain, both physical and emotional’. 

Dying from soft-tissue cancer, Marie Jansen's husband of 52 years feared a painful, drawn-out death in palliative care. Doctors reassured him his fears were unfounded. They were wrong.

Gary Lobley's partner Jeff died in 1993 from AIDS. “There was nothing left - he was just like a skeleton". Jeff's illness and shocking death had a massive impact on Gary, who for almost 30 years has been advocating for better end-of-life choices.