David Goodall was a 104-year-old scientist who left his home in Australia to fly across the world to end his long life. He was an ecologist and botanist and suffered from lack of mobility and poor eyesight in his later years. He believed that as he got older and older, his independence decreased. “I greatly regret having reached that age,” Dr. Goodall said on his birthday last month, in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “I’m not happy. I want to die. It’s not sad particularly. What is sad is if one is prevented.” Assisted dying had just become legalized by one state in Australia last year, but the process can only be allowed if the person is terminally ill. He traveled to a clinic in Switzerland to voluntarily end his life, and he was sad he had left Australia to do so.  

Dr. Goodall was born in London and lived on his own in a small flat in Perth, Western Australia. In 1979, he had moved away from his full-time employment but continued to remain heavily involved in his work. In recent years, Dr. Goodall edited a 30 volume book series called “Ecosystems of the World” and he had become a member of the Order of Australia for the work that he did. By 2016, at age 102, he won a battle to keep working on the campus of Perth Edith Cowan University where he continued his work as an unpaid honorary research associate. His friend Carol O’Neill, a representative from assisted dying advocacy group Exit International, accompanied Dr. Goodall on his journey out of Australia.

Mrs. O’Neill has said that his drive to live had begun decreasing in 2016 when there was the dispute about his working space. The university began to raise concerns about his safety and his ability to commute. Though he was completely fine and able to commute, they allowed him to keep working but in an area close to his house. “He was also forced to give up driving and performing at the theater,” Mrs. O’Neill said. After having a serious fall in his apartment, Dr. Goodall was not found for two days. Later, he had to be put under 24-hour care or be moved to a nursing home. “He’s an independent man. He doesn’t want people around him all the time, a stranger acted as a carer. He doesn’t want that.” Mrs. O’Neill said. He told ABC he hoped the public would understand his decision, saying: “If one chooses to kill oneself then that’s fair enough. I don’t think anyone else should interfere.”