Seales ‘deeply hurt’ by right-to-die case failure
Lecretia Seales learned on her death bed that she had been denied her dying wish.
Seales, a Wellington lawyer, died of a brain tumour early yesterday aged 42.
Husband Matt Vickers revealed her deep hurt and disappointment when he told her on Tuesday evening that Justice David Collins had decided it was against the law for her to be allowed a doctor’s help to die at a time of her own choosing.
‘‘Even though she couldn’t speak, she was able to share her feelings through her expression. There was no mistaking her response. She was hurt and disappointed,’’ he told a media conference yesterday afternoon.
‘‘She fixed me with a stare with her good eye as if to say ‘Isn’t this my body? My life?’
‘‘Her breath slowed and she turned her head away. Her reaction utterly broke my heart.’’
Seales had asked the court to clarify the law so she had the option of having a doctor’s help to die if her suffering became intolerable. Collins ruled that only Parliament could make a law change to allow such a step to legally occur.
Vickers maintained his composure for most of his reading of a prepared statement about the family’s shocked reaction to Collins’ judgement. His legal team, Andrew Butler and Catherine Marks, also attended the conference, along with Seales’ former colleague and close friend, Cate Brett.
Vickers said the family was given an interim results judgment on the case on Tuesday so that Seales, whose health was rapidly deteriorating, could be aware of the outcome and know whether she could lawfully have a doctor to help her to die.
Collins’ full judgment from the High Court at Wellington was made public yesterday afternoon and explained that Seales’ doctor risked prosecution for murder or manslaughter if she administered a fatal drug to Seales, intending to kill her.
It also said Seales’ doctor risked prosecution for assisting suicide if she provided Seales with a fatal drug, intending Seales to take that drug and if Seales died as a consequence.
‘‘We are dismayed by Justice Collins’ judgment. In some ways, I am relieved that Lecretia was unconscious and unresponsive when we received it,’’ Vickers said. ‘‘It just so happens that sometimes, when that suffering is so great, the only release from that suffering is death. That is not murder. That is not suicide. That is mercy.’’
He said Collins’ interpretation of the law ‘‘starkly highlighted that the status quo is not ideal’’, and that the terminally ill were at risk of intolerable suffering and of ending their lives earlier than they would otherwise have done.
‘‘Justice Collins was clear that it is for Parliament to address these issues,’’ Vickers said.
He implored Prime Minister John Key to initiate the debate, saying Key publicly stated two weeks ago that he welcomed such debate.