Precis

This is the inside story of 104-year-old activist David Goodall’s last days in Europe as he farewells family and campaigns for the right to die, up to his final hour.

“I still have a visceral reaction to it when I think about it” says Duncan Goodall, David’s grandson. “Having someone take their own life is repellent to me. But when you think it through and you sort of rationalise it…it makes sense.”

The ABC’s Charlotte Hamlyn, based in Perth Western Australia, first met Dr Goodall on his 100th birthday and is the only Australian journalist to document Dr Goodall’s journey to Switzerland.

In a powerful and ultimately life-affirming film, we follow Dr Goodall and his family from Perth to France to Switzerland and see them navigate their way through the bureaucracy of death and become unlikely stars in an international media drama.

“He could have excluded the media in a way that was good and comfortable for him. Instead he made a very difficult choice to bring everyone in and make sacrifices and change things for the better.” Duncan Goodall, Grandson

Dr Goodall’s story attracted global attention because his decision to die was unusual: the renowned botanist was technically healthy but poor eyesight and mobility meant he no longer found joy in life.

“Up to even the age of 90 I was enjoying life,” he tells Foreign Correspondent reporter Charlotte Hamlyn, “but not now.”

At 104, Dr David Goodall was fearful of losing his cherished independence and his daughter reveals to Foreign Correspondent that after a failed attempt to kill himself earlier this year he decided to seek help with an assisted suicide in Switzerland.

“He’d always planned that at some point, if life was not worth living or there was not enough quality, that this is what h would do. But… that failed.” Karen Goodall-Smith, Daughter

“You don’t change his mind,” says his Bordeaux-based daughter-in-law, Hana Goodall. “He always thinks in a different way and it’s a destiny of an unusual man to make an unusual decision.”

Switzerland has some of the most liberal laws on assisted suicide in the world. The process is different to voluntary euthanasia because the person must carry out the act themselves. Swiss law also allows foreigners in, with over 200 making the one-way trip there annually, including at least one Australian a year, leading to claims of ‘suicide tourism’.

Foreign Correspondent films with Dr Goodall until his final hour, when he is instructed how to administer the drugs that will kill him. Right to the end, he takes every opportunity to remind people of the need for debate about assisted dying laws.

“I’m not ill,” He insists as his grandson helps him complete the final paperwork. “Do you hope that by publicising it you will get people talking about it after your death?” asks one of the many foreign reporters who flocked to Basel to cover the story. “I’m happy that should be so, yes,” agrees Dr Goodall.

Basel GVs

00:00

Title: ON HIS OWN TERMS

00:10

Hamlyn on tram. Super:
Reporter
Charlotte Hamlyn

00:15

DUNCAN GOODALL: “If you agree that your mental capacity is completely fine, you say yes.  Do you understand?” 

DAVID GOODALL: “Well, more or less”.

DUNCAN GOODALL: “I know. 

00:22

Duncan with David in final hour. Family gathered

Frankly, I think it’s a little weird I must admit but this is the final form so…”

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: David Goodall is a long way from home. 

00:31

At the age of 104, he’s travelled from Australia all the way to Switzerland where it’s legal to get help to suicide.

00:43

DUNCAN GOODALL: “David if you don’t understand something, just ask me and I will…”

DAVID GOODALL: “Yes, well I didn’t hear”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN:  His grandson, Duncan Goodall, has flown in

00:50

from the U.S. to be by his side.

DUNCAN GOODALL: “Is your mental capacity good?”

DAVID GOODALL: “I think so, yes”.

DUNCAN GOODALL: “Do you have an incurable illness?”

DAVID GOODALL: “No”.

DUNCAN GOODALL: “No.  Are you in unbearable pain?”

DAVID GOODALL: “No”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: In an hour,

00:58

Dr Goodall will kill himself with a lethal dose of barbiturates.  Before he does, he must prove he understands the nature of his decision.

01:21

DUNCAN GOODALL: “Are you influenced by others to make this decision?”

DAVID GOODALL: “No”.

01:31

Hamlyn in room with Goodalls

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: I’ve known Dr Goodall for five years and in that time, I’ve seen him transform from an active and animated

01:27

Duncan with David

man into someone who feels he has nothing to live for.

DUNCAN GOODALL: “So just leave it as, due to, because I want to end my suffering, exactly”.

DAVID GOODALL: “I want to end my life”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Tonight, the inside story of David Goodall’s

01:44

Family and camera operators in room with Goodalls

final days, as he crosses the globe farewelling family and campaigning

02:00

Duncan with David

for his last rights.

DUNCAN GOODALL: “Do you have any last words or do you feel like you’ve said your piece?”

DAVID GOODALL: “No, nothing more than I have already said”.

DUNCAN GOODALL: “You’ve been very patient and we all appreciate that”.

02:05

David signs document

Music

02:23

Bordeaux GVs. Super:
Bordeaux, France

02:30

Hamlyn on tram

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: For me, Dr Goodall’s decision to die is difficult to understand.  Just a week before we were with him while he was visiting family in Bordeaux in the south west of France. And he was full of life.

02:41

Hana to David on walking frame

HANA GOODALL: “Watch your step.  It’s a small one.  You remember?”

DAVID GOODALL: “Yes, vaguely”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: For many years the city’s been home to David’s son, the third of his four children.

02:57

Hana assists David to car

HANA GOODALL: “It’s just a little step, just now.  Very tiny”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Hana Goodall is his daughter-in-law.  Her marriage is over, but she’s stayed in close contact with her father-in-law.

03:08

Hana puts wheelchair into car

Music

03:23

Hana drives to family home

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN:  Today, Hana is taking him to visit the family home.  It’s east of the city, in the middle of the wine-growing region, and David loves it here.

03:34

Music

03:47

Hana assists David out of car

HANA GOODALL: “We’ll go around with car and you approach to the gate”.

DAVID GOODALL: “Right”.

HANA GOODALL: “There we go”.

03:59

David feeds pony and goats

04:08

DAVID GOODALL: [feeding a pony] “There we are, how’s that?  Good”.

HANA GOODALL: [feeding goats] “Just another one.  Still some left.  Here’s a small mouth here wanting”.

DAVID GOODALL: “Well, well.  I think you animals have had probably enough… [goat jumps on wheelchair] … oh well!  Hello”.

04:21

Han interview

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “This is obviously a very important place for you and it’s a very special place for David”.

DAVID GOODALL: “Yes, that’s right”.

HANA GOODALL: “For David, yes.  It’s our family house.  Children were brought up here in the nature with animals. Nearly 30 years he was coming to see us here”.

04:31

Hana with David and animals

[subtitle] “I don’t know how we’ll manage.  He was always here at important times of our life”.

04:46

David interview

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “What is it that you like about this place, David?”

DAVID GOODALL: “Well, it’s mainly the people here, but also landscape. You haven’t seen across the valley yet which is quite, quite a nice vista, yes. 

04:54

Daisies

Music

05:08

David

DAVID GOODALL: I’ll have to climb the stairs.  It may be a bit complicated.

05:13

Family wheel David up steps

Music

05:17

David climbs the stairs slowly to chair

05:27

DAVID GOODALL: Here we are!  I’m here!”

LINDA: “If you need it there is a chair”.

05:40

David walks with walker

DAVID GOODALL: “No, I’ll be right.  Now don’t you think that that is a fine view?  Yes, I think so”.

05:47

David and family around table. Champagne being opened. Super:
Perth, Australia

06:08

David's birthday celebration. Lighting candles on cake

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: In the weeks before Bordeaux, David Goodall was with family on the other side of the world.  I thought I was going along to report on a celebration, instead Dr Goodall made a surprise announcement.

06:16

David interview. Super:
David Goodall

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “At age 104, are you happy?”

DAVID GOODALL: “I beg your pardon?”

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “Are you happy?”

DAVID GOODALL: “No.  No, I’m not happy. I want to die”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: That came as a shock to many of us at the ABC in Perth. 

06:32

Return to birthday celebration

We’d done stories about him over the years and he seemed unstoppable.

06:50

Still. David as baby with mother

Music

06:56

Still. David with sister

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN:  Born in London, David Goodall

07:01

Stills montage of David

was a respected ecologist and plant scientist, working all over the world.  He settled in Australia in the late 1940s, marrying three times.

07:03

Super:
Karen Goodall-Smith
Daughter

KAREN GOODALL-SMITH: “He wasn’t a very good husband.  He was a very, very difficult man, because he was

07:18

Still. David

so focused on his science”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: David Goodall’s other passion was acting

07:25

David on stage performing in play

and he performed into his late 90s. 

DAVID GOODALL: [on stage] “I’m sorry madam for the news I bring.  It’s heavy in my tongue”.

[archive interview] “I’m now 97, nearly 98 and I’ve done it since I was

07:29

David archive interview

about 15 so you can make the deduction, 80 odd years”.

07:45

David travelling to office on bus/In office

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN:  Dr Goodall was still working at the age of 102, commuting to his office four days a week, but he was dealt a blow when the university told him it was no longer safe for him to be based on campus.

DAVID GOODALL: “I’d be glad if they did reconsider it,

07:51

David interview

but I don’t feel that I am in a position to press it”.

08:13

David in office

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: After a public backlash, the university found him an office closer to home.

08:18

David climbing steps

By the age of 104 though, David’s eyesight and mobility had deteriorated.

08:27

David interview

DAVID GOODALL: “Once I lost my driving licence, that’s a critical thing., all sorts of other avenues were closed to me. 

08:37

David at home using walker

I no longer find much joy in life.  Up to… even up to the age of 90 I was enjoying life.  But not now”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN:  This year he had a fall and spent two days on the kitchen floor before his cleaner found him.  After a stay in hospital, he feared he’d be forced into a nursing home.

08:45

Karen interview

KAREN GOODALL-SMITH: “For the very first time ever, he attempted suicide.  He’d always planned

09:15

David at home making breakfast

that at some point, if life was not worth living or there was not enough quality, that this is what he would do, but of course that failed”.

09:21

Ext. Block of flats. Hamlyn visits David

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN:  In Australia, euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal.  From next year though, voluntary euthanasia will be legal in Victoria for those who are

09:39

terminally ill and close to death. But that law wouldn’t apply to someone like David Goodall who’s not sick.  [entering room] “Hi Karen, hi David. Dr Goodall, lovely to see you.  How are you feeling?”

DAVID GOODALL: “Oh, anxious.  Keen to get on with the job”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Dr Goodall is a long-time member of Exit International, a group which campaigns for voluntary euthanasia.

09:51

Karen with David. Packs David's bag

KAREN GOODALL-SMITH: “I bought this jacket for you”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Exit’s arranged him an appointment with an organisation in Switzerland which assists people to suicide. He’s leaving today.  His daughter Karen isn’t going with him.  It’s too confronting.

10:21

David interview

“Are you unhappy that you’ve ended up in his position where you’re having to fly…”

DAVID GOODALL: “I am indeed. I would prefer to remain where I am, but I’m happy that I should be able to leave, leave this life, even if it means going to Switzerland to do so”.

10:40

Family home in France. Super:
Bordeaux, France

11:07

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: It’s five days before David Goodall is due to die. 

11:14

David with cat

[being handed a cat] “So you’ve come back! Well, you’ve been brought back. You were brought back.  He wasn’t there, was he?”

HANA GOODALL: “He makes himself comfortable”.

DAVID GOODALL: [nursing cat] “Oh well yes, good”.

11:18

Daniel and Marie deliver food

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: David’s grandson Daniel and his partner Marie have prepared food for a final lunch at the family home in Bordeaux.

11:31

David and family at lunch

The family heard about their grandfather’s decision, three weeks earlier.

DAVID GOODALL: [at table] “This is an unusual first greeting, isn’t it?”

DANIEL GOODALL: “First time it was a shock, really a complete shock,

11:47

Daniel interview. Super:
Daniel Goodall
Grandson

but after a second thought in fact I was happy for David, still sad for myself but happy for David. [subtitle] When I thought about it later, I realised it was a real opportunity for David to be able to decide what he really wanted”.

12:06

Family lunch

[at table] “Would you like with your meal some wine?”

DAVID GOODALL: “Yes I think so”.

DANIEL GOODALL: [subtitle] “It’s going to be extremely sad and quite odd to know that we’re seeing him today, but in a few days it’ll be all over.  It’s a very strange feeling. The hardest thing for him is that he feels cut off from what’s going on around him because of his loss of eyesight, and the fact he can do less and less”.

12:33

DAVID GOODALL: [at table] “Would someone turn me around?”

DANIEL GOODALL: “Yes”.

13:15

[subtitle] “Even with taste and smell, he was someone who adored eating, but he’s losing all his sense little by little”.

13:26

[to David] “Would you like some more tarte au soleil, sunny pie?  Would you like some more?”

DAVID GOODALL: “I’ll have a little”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “How have you explained your decision

13:35

David interview. Super:
David Goodall

to end your life to them?”

DAVID GOODALL: “I haven’t had occasion to explain it.  I think it’s probably rather evident that my life has now become so, so poor that it’s not worth continuing”.

13:48

Hana interview

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “Is there any part of you that wants to try and change his mind?”

14:06

Super:
Hana Goodall
Daughter in law

HANA GOODALL: “Me, to change his mind? You don’t change David’s mind.  Ever.  Ever.  He always thinks in a different way and I think

14:10

David with Hana and Hamlyn

it’s a destiny of unusual man to make unusual decision who are changing the life of many”.

14:21

Basel GVs. Super: Basel, Switzerland

Music

14:28

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: From Bordeaux, David Goodall takes a final flight to Basel, a town in northern Switzerland. 

14:40

Nitschke at airport with David

His very personal journey is about to turn into a major media event.  At the airport is Dr Philip Nitschke, the founder of Exit International who was banned in 2015 by the Medical Board of Australia from giving advice about suicide.  Now based in the Netherlands, Dr Nitschke is working closing with the Swiss Organisation, Life Circle.

14:45

Fiona Stewart with David and press

FIONA STEWART: [at airport] “This is a lady from China who wants to know how you’re going”.

DAVID GOODALL: “Oh, hello”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Dr Nitschke’s partner, Fiona Stewart, is managing the growing media interest.

15:17

FIONA STEWART: “This is Jamie from Associated Press in New York”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Dr Goodall’s story is attracting so much attention because he’s an unusual case.  He’s not sick or in pain but has chosen to end his life simply because he’s had enough.

15:27

Nitschke interview. Super:
Dr Philip Nitschke
Exit International

DR PHILIP NITSCHKE: [Exit International] “In Europe this idea of a person’s right to die, as opposed to this idea of it being some form of medical privilege,

15:45

David leaving airport

is a real cutting-edge issue in the debate.  Not in Australia, but in Europe it is.  His views epitomize, and he articulates them so well,

15:52

Nitschke

this changing sentiment about where end of life legislation should be headed”.

16:02

Choir preforming in square

16:13

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Switzerland is a country famous for its traditions and conservatism.  But in one aspect at least, the Swiss are radical.  Their laws on assisted suicide are among the most liberal in the world.  In simple terms, it’s legal to help someone kill themselves so long as your motives aren’t selfish.

16:20

Nitschke

DR PHILIP NITSCHKE: “In other words, if it’s not a malicious act, it’s not a crime.  So an act of compassion is not a crime.  So that freed up people to be able to assist and it led then to Swiss people being able to get access to the drugs to give them peaceful death”.

16:46

Basel GVs

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: The number of Swiss people accessing assisted suicide has quadrupled over the past 15 years, but it doesn’t stop with its own citizens.

17:00

Hamlyn to camera

“There are a number of countries around the world where voluntary euthanasia is legal, but Switzerland is unusual. It’s one of just two countries that allows assisted dying for foreigners.  Hundreds of people make that one way trip every year, giving rise to the phenomenon that’s been labelled “suicide tourism” and that’s stirring up debate amongst the Swiss”.

17:15

Basel GVs

While polls have shown there’s public support for the policy, some Swiss think it tarnishes their country’s image. 

17:36

Pfeifer interview

Anne-Marie Pfeifer is a psychologist and city councillor.

17:46

ANNE-MARIE PFEIFER: “I am very proud of our reputation as we are the pioneers of the Red Cross who is all over the world and really helping people.  But here, I think this is somehow against our really values of the Red Cross, helping people to live”.

17:51

Basel GVs

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Anne Marie Pfeiffer fears that easy access to assisted suicide could put pressure on old people.

ANNE-MARIE PFEIFER: “It’s already a pressure that it could be an easy way out,

18:09

Pfeifer interview. Super:
Annemarie Pfeifer
Psychologist

nobody would have to pay anymore, family would have some more money left off and so there is a pressure of very old life is no more valuable”.

18:25

Ext. David's hotel

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: It’s Tuesday afternoon, just two days before Dr Goodall is scheduled to die.

18:40

Hamlyn visits David in hotel. Duncan opens door

[meeting Duncan] “Duncan, hello.  How are you?  Lovely to see you”.

DUNCAN GOODALL: “Good to see you”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “Thank you for having me”.

18:50

DUNCAN GOODALL: “Sure. David, Charlotte’s here”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “This is Charlotte from the ABC.  How are you going?”

DAVID GOODALL: “Hi Charlotte.  Well I’m going as well as can be expected, but today has been enlivened by the arrival of my grandson”.

18:54

Duncan interview. Super:
Duncan Goodall
David's grandson

DUNCAN GOODALL: “It’s a very strange situation.  It’s all surreal. But then on top of that there’s the whole political aspect of it that makes me really angry.  That my grandfather had to come all this way to do something that he should have every right to do”.

DAVID GOODALL: “Thank you, yes, yes”.

19:10

Hamlyn sits with David

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “How are you feeling about the next couple of days?”

DAVID GOODALL: “I’m looking forward to it in a way. I’m anxious to finish with it and that will happen, which day?  On Thursday won’t it?”

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “Thursday.  Are you afraid?”

DAVID GOODALL: “Pardon?”

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “Are you afraid?”

DAVID GOODALL: “No”.

19:29

[shot continuous]

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “And you’re quite resolute in the decision you’ve made?”

DAVID GOODALL: “Yes, that’s right”.

19:53

Duncan with David, into wheelchair

DUNCAN GOODALL: “I still have a visceral reaction to it when I just think about it, because you know, who wants to take their own life?  Having someone take their own life just is repellent to me but

19:57

Duncan interview

when you think it through and you sort of rationalise it, I guess makes sense”.

20:15

David in chair in garden

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Before he can fulfil his wish, Dr Goodall is required by the Swiss Organisation Life Circle to undergo psychological evaluation.

20:20

Weber in garden with David and Hamlyn

DR CHRISTIAN WEBER: “I’ve started to work with the organisation this year”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Anaesthetist Christian Weber is one of two doctors who will assess his state of mind.  The other is a psychiatrist.

20:31

Weber interview

DR CHRISTIAN WEBER: [subtitle] “One of the most important points is that we are convinced this person is acting… is sound of mind, is acting free, has well considered over a long time, has this position for assisted suicide”.

20:45

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “How do you make a determination within a one-hour appointment that someone is of sound mind?”

20:58

DR CHRISTIAN WEBER: [subtitle] “If you are asking the same question once, again and again, or the same question a few, a couple of minutes later and you have a coherent response of this person – and this is all a general impression how he presents, if he’s really confused or if he formulates clearly what he is thinking”.

21:04

David drinking in garden

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Tomorrow, the board of Life Circle will assess the doctor’s reports and make a final decision on Dr Goodall’s request.  If it gives its approval, the day after tomorrow will be his last. 

21:29

Dusk. Basel

Music

21:45

Media at hotel press conference

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: The next day, Exit International organises a press conference at the hotel and the media descends.

21:51

FIONA STEWART: “You’ve arrived a bit late so I’ll just ask you to be nice and respectful to everybody else in the room”.

CAMERA MAN: “Of course”.

22:00

David being wheeled to hotel

Music

22:06

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Before the press conference, Life Circle’s lawyer comes to the hotel.

22:13

Stewart introduces lawyer to David

FIONA STEWART: “David, this is Mr Moritz Gall.  He is the lawyer for Life Circle. He’s the man who’s come to talk to you now”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN:  He’s here to let Dr Goodall know the board’s decision on his request for an assisted suicide.  It’s given its approval.

22:18

Nitschke does sound check

DR PHILIP NITSCHKE: [sound check] “Yeah this will be about, it’s set to be speaking at about this volume.  I think David will probably speak quite a bit softer”.

22:42

REPORTER: “Well just make sure that there’s room for him.  Please that bag…”.

22:51

David is wheeled into press conference

22:56

FIONA STEWART: “Hello David.   Welcome to the press conference”.

23:02

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: It’s the first time I’ve seen Dr Goodall look a little overwhelmed.

23:08

DAVID GOODALL: “I’m impressed with the number of people”.

23:13

Hamlyn at press conference

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “Do you feel any extra pressure on you given the number of people that are here to share in your story?”

DAVID GOODALL: “Well, I suppose that is in a sense a pressure but I don’t feel that anyone else’s choice is involved”.

23:17

REPORTER: “Do you feel that you may have more to contribute to life, to the world?”

23:38

DAVID GOODALL: “Well I don’t think so.  I think over these few days that I’ve been coming here, the widespread interest in my case has been my contribution”.

23:44

REPORTER: “Another quick question.  Can I ask tomorrow in the final moments, have you chosen any song or any tune to be played?”

23:58

DAVID GOODALL: “If I had to choose something I think it would be the final movement of Beethoven’s 9^tthh symphony”.

DR PHILIP NITSCHKE: “Very nice”.

24:05

David sings. Media applauds

DAVID GOODALL: [sings]

DR PHILIP NITSCHKE: I think we can arrange something for tomorrow.

24:15

Family toast David at outdoor café

FAMILY: [having a drink] “Cheers. To David”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Away from the spotlight, David’s grandchildren confide they’re feeling the pressure.

DANIEL GOODALL: “Even if it’s not easy for us

24:40

to make it public and to share it with the rest of the world, we know it was important for David.  It was a cause that really mattered for him, so what we think about it, doesn’t really matter”.

24:51

DUNCAN GOODALL: “He could have very easily taken a different route.  He could have said

25:05

I’m going to gather my family around me, and everyone else leave.  He could have very easily done that and he could’ve excluded the media.  He could have just walked away and just done it the way that was good and comfortable for him.  But he didn’t do that.  Instead, he made a very difficult choice to bring everyone in and to make those sort of sacrifices and to change things for the better”.

25:10

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Tonight, they’ll take their grandfather out for one last dinner.  But they’re uneasy about tomorrow.

25:38

DANIEL GOODALL: “It’s hard to think what will happen tomorrow. I don’t know how I will react and what will happen”.

25:49

Basel GVs. Rain

Music

25:57

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN:  On his last day, David is up early.  His daughter Karen calls him from Perth to say goodbye.

KAREN GOODALL-SMITH: “David has never been good at saying I love you.  He’s never said it in fact.

26:10

Karen interview

 So I said to him, ‘I love you David’ and he said, ‘Oh, thank you’.  I said you can say I love you too.  He went, ‘Oh I love you’.

26:22

To know that he was going to die that day and that I was never going to talk to him again, it was really important for me to talk to him and to hear that”.

26:35

Town GVs. Rain.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: The rooms where Dr Goodall will die are on the outskirts of a town near Basel.

26:52

David wheeled into Life Circle rooms

REPORTER: [as he’s wheeled past] “Are you still convinced it’s the right thing Professor?”

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN:  When the family arrive, they’re taken aback.  Even at this sensitive moment, there’s a lot of media. 

27:04

David with media

But Dr Goodall is still happy to take questions.

REPORTER: “And do you hope that by publicising it, you will get people talking about it after your death?”

DAVID GOODALL: “Certainly I’m happy that should be so, yes”.

27:16

Duncan reads document to David

DUNCAN GOODALL: “I herewith declare that I will not hold responsible either the accompanist…”

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: It falls to Duncan to help his grandfather navigate the final paperwork.

DUNCAN GOODALL: “I discharge the two doctors who wrote the expertise in regards to my illness from their obligation of secrecy. 

27:32

Do you agree?”

DAVID GOODALL: “Yes so that’s all right except that it refers to my illness and I’m not ill”.

DUNCAN GOODALL: “He takes issue with the illness so can we cross that out?”

DAVID GOODALL: “Well if we can cross it out, good”.

27:53

Hamlyn with David

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: As we wait for more documents, I’m able to steal a moment with David.

“I just wanted to say goodbye and all the best”.

DAVID GOODALL: “Well thank you and well I’m happy going”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: “I wish you much peace. Thank you for being so generous with us”.

28:09

Duncan shows David how to administer drug

DUNCAN GOODALL: “Now here is the mechanism right here”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: Most critically, he has to learn how to administer himself the lethal dose – he alone must push the lever.

28:31

DUNCAN GOODALL: “This mechanism, you have to do this alone and no one can be around you.  This is the most important part.  So push it up against, or push it this way, push it that way.  Up, up the slide.  You can use both thumbs.  Okay, yep there. One more.  Very good”.

28:43

ABC is asked to leave

RUEDI: “The team, ABC has to leave now”.

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: At this point we’re asked to stop filming.

DUNCAN GOODALL: “Do you think you can do it?”

DAVID GOODALL: “I expect”.

29:04

Room door closes

Music

29:12

Flower/Hillside in rain

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN: David Goodall lies on the bed and his family gathers around.  He struggles with the mechanism but finally manages to work the lever.

29:22

Empty room. Drug beside bed

DUNCAN GOODALL: “And he just… he hit it and he laid back, closed his eyes and about thirty seconds later

29:38

Duncan interview

he opened his eyes and looked around and said, ‘Oh it’s taking a rather long time’.  [laughs/cries] And he closed his eyes again and about another fifteen or twenty seconds later, he fell asleep.

29:53

You really don’t know how to think about these things.  You know, you think

30:17

that human life like has such a high value that we should save at all costs, but there are times when

30:21

Stills. David

that isn’t actually the case.  I don’t know how to articulate it.  I’ve never felt anything like this before so I don’t know how to talk about it”.

30:32

CHARLOTTE HAMLYN:  For Duncan, it’s hard to process but he says his grandfather died the way he lived, on his own terms. 

30:44

Duncan interview

DUNCAN GOODALL: “He made his death have meaning. You know he, he saw this thing that he could do to help people that came after him. 

30:58

Stills. David with family

He also did it in such a way that allowed his family to have closure, so all the people that were closest to him could say goodbye.  Because that also is a great gift,

31:09

Duncan/Still. David smiling

that you can give your family and such is giving them that last opportunity to say those things they always wanted to say”.

31:22

Swiss countryside

Music

31:34

Credits start over:

Reporter - Charlotte Hamlyn 
Producer - Lisa McGregor 
Camera - Geoffrey Lye 
Editor - Garth Thomas 
Executive Producer - Marianne Leitch

31:36

Out point after credits

31:57