‘She was tired… ready to go’: Daughters of mother, 61, who is the first to take her own life under new assisted dying laws reveal the ‘beautiful experience’ of her death
- Kerry Robertson is the first person to end their life in Australia under new laws
- Ms Robertson died at a nursing home in Bendigo, Victoria, on July 15 this year
- Victoria’s new voluntary assisted dying laws came into effect on June 19 2019
- The 61-year-old was ‘ready to go’, according to daughters Nicole and Jacqui
The family of a 61-year-old woman who made history as the first person in Victoria to legally end her life with new laws have revealed the ‘beautiful experience’ of her death.
Kerry Robertson, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, died at a nursing home in Bendigo, Victoria, on July 15 – less than a month after the new laws were introduced.
Ms Robertson was ‘ready to go’, according to daughters Nicole and Jacqui, who held their mother’s hands while she took her final breath.
Jacqui told Seven News their mother was ‘surrounded by love’ in her final moments, with her favourite music playing in the background and family in the room.
Ms Robertson (centre) was ‘ready to go’, according to daughters Nicole (right) and Jacqui (left), who held their mother’s hands while she took her final breath
‘I think one of the most important and special parts of this was that mum was able to plan her death,’ Nicole said.
Ms Robertson was declared cancer free following radiation and chemotherapy after her initial diagnosis.
But four years later, when she suffered a throbbing pain to the back of the head, Ms Robertson learnt the cancer had metastised to her bones, lungs and brain.
‘The terminal diagnosis was far harder for us than her decision to have a voluntary assisted death,’ Nicole said.
Ms Robertson’s body had been failing her and she’d been in incredible pain for a long time, Jacqui said.
The pair were relieved to give their mother the ’empowered death’ she wanted, which ended up being a ‘beautiful experience’.
Nicole told The Age that her mother wasn’t afraid of death, but rather how the cancer would take its course.
‘She wasn’t afraid of death. But she was terrified of how the cancer would kill her and the pain she would suffer,’ she said.
On the day the Victoria’s voluntary assisted dying laws came into effect on June 19, Ms Robertson booked an appointment with her specialist to acquire the lethal substance.
The cocktail of drugs was dropped by two pharmacists at the nursing home on the same day she decided to end her life.
‘The last words she said to us were ”I love you”,’ Nicole told The Age.
‘She was so peaceful and surrounded by love. It was the way she wanted to leave this world.’
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Kerry Robertson, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, died at a nursing home in Bendigo, Victoria, on July 15