David's heartbreaking but empowering path to Voluntary Assisted Dying | ABC Conversations Podcast

Pauline McGrath's life changed forever when her husband of 30 years, David, was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor. Together Pauline and David set out to take advantage of the incoming Voluntary Assisted Dying laws about to come into effect in Queensland. Since David's death, Pauline has been has kept her promise to him to speak openly about their experience and be an advocate for VAD.

A few years ago, Pauline McGrath came home from work and found the lights on and the dog already fed.

This was something which had never happened in her 30-year marriage to David, a director of paediatric medicine at Queensland Children's Hospital.

Straight away, Pauline asked David, "Who has died?"

Her beloved husband told her he had a brain tumour, and that voluntary assisted dying was going to be an option for Queenslanders in six months.

This moment began a heartbreaking but ultimately empowering path for David, Pauline and their family.

David's wish was for Pauline to speak openly about their family experience. So that's what she's been doing while grieving her husband, supporting her two daughters, and embarking on the next chapter of her own life.

This episode of Conversations contains discussions about VAD, voluntary assisted dying, euthanasia, palliative care, cancer, brain tumor, relationships, parents, children, daughters, marriage, love, grief, good death, mourning, grieving, medicine, doctors, hospitals, Queensland, Brisbane, paediatricians, cancer treatment, advocacy, dying, end of life laws.