David Goodall death: British scientist dies at Swiss clinic after taking his own life surrounded by family

David Goodall, 104, was not terminally ill
EPA
Tom Powell10 May 2018

A British-born scientist has died after travelling to an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland to end his own life.

Dr David Goodall, 104, died after taking a fatal sleeping drug and was surrounded by four family members and a close friend.

The renowned ecologist had flown to the clinic from his home in Australia where euthanasia is illegal.

He was not terminally ill but said he had grown tired of living with deteriorating health.

Dr Goodall had arrived at the clinic just before 11am on Thursday morning and enjoyed a final meal of fish and chips and cheesecake, which was his favourite.

David Goodall in a room in Liestal near Basel, Switzerland, where he was helped to end his life
AP

Beethoven's 9th Symphony was played in the room at the suicide clinic in Liestal, near Basel, as he took the fatal overdose of the sleeping drug.

Before taking his own life, Dr Goodall told a packed news conference yesterday: “There are many things I would like to do, but it's too late.

"I'm content to leave them undone.”

"One should be free to choose the death, when death is at an appropriate time,” he told reporters.

"My abilities have been in decline over the past year or two, my eyesight over the past six years.

A room in the Swiss clinic where Dr Goodall chose to end his life
AP

“I no longer want to continue life. I am happy to have the chance tomorrow to end it."

Sky News reported that staff at the clinic said Dr Goodall had "gone in peace".

Dr Goodall told a press conference he was "content" to die
EPA

Assisted suicide has been legal in Switzerland since the 1940s, and the number of cases has more than tripled in the last decade.

Dr Goodall was born in London in 1914 and moved to Australia in 1948, where he worked as a lecturer at the University of Melbourne.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in