Voluntary assisted dying: Why this 29-year-old man is choosing to end his life now after knowing since he was a child he would ‘not get old’
- Austen was born with a congenital heart defect
- Doctors said he wouldn’t live to see his 19th birthday
- He chose to take his own life at the age of 29 after lung failure
- a fundraising has been set up for him and his wife
A young man preparing to end his life under euthanasia legislation says he is ‘at peace’ with the decision.
Austen Blackman-Gatehouse, 29, was born with a congenital heart defect and was told by doctors he would not live to see his 19th birthday.
Despite having defied their expectations for more than a decade, he has decided that he will take his own life within a year.
“The paperwork is done, my application has been approved, I have access to the resources to end my life at any time,” Blackman-Gatehouse said. The advertiser.
‘There is no specific date.
Austen Blackman-Gatehouse, 29, was born with congenital heart disease and doctors told him he wouldn’t live to see his 19th birthday (pictured with wife and full-time carer Shannon)
‘My health is unlikely to last more than a year. That’s an optimistic estimate.’
Mr Blackman-Gatehouse underwent open heart surgery when he was just five months old.
He developed pulmonary hypertension, a type of high blood pressure that affects the arteries in the lungs and heart.
“I knew from a very young age that I wasn’t going to grow old,” he said.
Mr Blackman-Gatehouse underwent a lung and heart transplant in 2019.
Mr Blackman-Gatehouse said he has made peace with his death (pictured with Shannon)
But he died in the operating room and doctors had to resuscitate him twice.
The recovery process was long and difficult until his lungs rejected his body in March 2022.
Since then they have deteriorated so much that they only function at 10 percent.
“Knowing that my body was going to continue to deteriorate, I wanted to be in control of the point of death, rather than slowly suffocating,” he said.
Mr Blackman-Gatehouse married his partner of ten years, Shannon, 44, in June 2022 and she has become his full-time carer.
“An experience like this would have destroyed most relationships, but it only strengthened ours,” he said.
‘She has been at the heart of my support and has been with me every step of the way, whilst remaining absolutely steadfast. She’s my best friend.’
a GoFundMe pagewhich has raised nearly $3,400 to date, was created to support the couple financially.
“Shannon has supported Austen through all the trials and tribulations of his illness over the years (including a double lung and heart transplant in 2022), even though she has her own issues to deal with,” the GoFundMe said.
‘Unable to work as she is Austen’s full-time carer, Shannon will have very little to help her financially once Austen passes away.’
South Australia’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Act was passed in 2021 and allows people with terminal illnesses to end their own lives, with the permission of doctors.