For most people, birthday wishes usually involve hoping for a long and healthy life, but not for this Australian scientist.
David Goodall, a botanist and ecologist, and Australia’s oldest scientist, said that he has lived for quite too long.
He just celebrated his 104th birthday but was not all that happy to commemorate it. He said in an interview that he deeply regrets living to that age and would have preferred to pass when he was 20 or 30 years younger.
When he was asked whether he had a nice birthday, David said, “No, I’m not happy. I want to die. … It’s not sad, particularly. What is sad is if one is prevented.”
David is part of Exit International, a nonprofit organization based in Australia that advocates for the legalization of euthanasia. He’s been in the organization for 20 years. However, since a law regarding legalizing euthanasia in Australia has not been passed, the 104-year-old plans to go to the Life Circle service in Basel, Switzerland for an assisted death.
Exit International’s founder, Dr. Philip Nitschke, has set up a GoFundMe page that would aid the scientist financially for his travel to Switzerland. Nitschke is also set to accompany David during his trip.
David also stated, “Once one is past the stage of middle life, one has paid back to society the debts that have been paid out. One should be free to use the rest of his life as one chooses. If one chooses to kill oneself, then that’s fair enough. I don’t think anyone else should interfere.”