Pain specialist backs VAD after wife’s death
Sydney-based Dr Gavin Pattullo has joined 100 doctors in calling for NSW MPs to support a bill to legalise voluntary assisted dying
A Sydney pain specialist and anaesthetist has shared the story of his 42-year-old wife’s “brave” decision to take her own life in support of NSW legislation on voluntary assisted dying.
In 2018, Dr Gavin Pattullo’s wife Venessa, who had leukaemia, faced a slow suffocating death or taking her own life.
She chose the second option: a lonely suicide without saying goodbye to her family.
“I had no inkling whatsoever,” Dr Pattullo said.
