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’

A young man who is preparing to end his life under euthanasia laws says is ‘at peace’  with the decision.

Austen Blackman-Gatehouse, 29, was born with a congenital heart disease and told by doctors he would not reach his 19th birthday. 

Despite defying their expectations by more than a decade, he has decided he will end his life within the year.

‘The paperwork is done, my application approved, I have access to the means to end my life at any time I choose,’ Mr Blackman-Gatehouse told The Advertiser.

‘There is no specific date.

‘My health is unlikely to hold out more than a year. That’s an optimistic estimate.’

Mr Blackman-Gatehouse had open heart surgery when he was just five months old. 

He developed pulmonary hypertension, a type of high blood pressure affecting the arteries in the lungs and the heart.

‘I knew from a very young age that I wasn’t likely to get old,’ he said.

Mr Blackman-Gatehouse had 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 theatre and doctors had to resuscitate him twice. 

The recovery process was long and arduous until, in March 2022, his lungs rejected his body.

They have since deteriorated to the point where they are functioning at only 10 per cent.

‘Knowing that my body was going to continue deteriorating, I wanted control over the point at which I die as opposed to 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 has only strengthened ours,’ he said. 

‘She has been at the core of my support and has been with me through every step of the way, while remaining absolutely steadfast. She is my best friend.’

A GoFundMe page, which has so far raised almost $3,400, was set up to provide financial support for the couple. 

‘Shannon has been supporting Austen through all of the trials of his illness for the past several years (including a double lung and heart transplant in 2022) even though she has her own struggles to contend with,’ the GoFundMe states. 

‘Unable to work as she is Austen’s full-time carer Shannon will have very little to help assist her financially once Austen passes.’

South Australia’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Act was passed in 2021 and allows for people with terminal illnesses to end their own life, with agreement from doctors.