Brave 23-year-old with Terminal illness Ends Life Under Assisted Dying Laws

Lily Thai, the terminally ill Adelaide woman used assisted dying laws to end her life peacefully on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old South Australian girl was terminally ill and lived in excruciating pain but passed on peacefully, confirmed her family.

“Thai spent her final moments at the Laurel Hospice in the Flinders Medical Centre, according to a funeral notice published in The Advertiser,” per 7 News.

“Much loved daughter of Kate and Le. Beloved granddaughter, niece, and cousin. Treasured friend to many,” her family said in the notice. “You may have gone from our sight, but you are never gone from our hearts.”

Voluntary assisted dying is now legalized in Australia since January 2023.

Miss Thai and her family decided to go for the painful solution to end her misery because she was in a lot of pain and couldn’t take it anymore.

Lily Thai, the daughter of a very successful culinary couple, Le Tu Thai and Kate Sparrow, had Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). This condition causes the sufferer’s joints to become loose and their skin so fragile that they are at a constant risk of severe injury.

“Mr. Thai is a Vietnamese refugee who became one of Adelaide’s most respected chefs,” Daily Mail reported. “He and his partner Kate gained acclaim through their Nediz Tu restaurant before Mr. Thai later took over the kitchen at the city’s famous Bridgewater Mill restaurant.” 

Their daughter had been living in excruciating pain due to her illness – a rare condition called autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy (AAG), in which a person’s body attacks their own nervous system.

She was diagnosed with the illness in 2018 when she was only 17 years old. AAG affected her quality of life, leaving her bedridden and unable to move.

Weeks before her death, Lily was moved to the Laurel Hospice, where she had been receiving palliative care. The 23-year-old couldn’t go out, leave her bed, or even move in her final days. She was surrounded by her family members, friends, and loved ones who took care of her in her final days.

A year after her EDS diagnosis, Lily lost control of her ability to walk, do bowel movements, eat, and drink without becoming sick.

“It’s gotten to the place that I’ve lost control of everything else in my life, and I’ve been reliant on my dad as a caregiver to do everything for me, even the most intimate things,” she told the local newspaper.

Eventually, after five years of so much pain, suffering, and living a miserable life which made her dependent on medical aid, doctors, and her family, Lily decided to end her life using the assisted-dying laws.

It was a very difficult decision, and her family was in a lot of agony when she signed the consent paperwork.

“Mum (had) to step out of the room because she found it too much, but they respect my decision, and they’d rather not see me suffer anymore,” she said.  

Before her passing, Lily’s friend and ambulance officer, Danika Pederzolli, 28, took her out to the beach to enjoy the sight of the ocean with some McDonald’s fries.

Danika, who met Lily through a St. John’s cadet program and became her close friend, said she would never forget Lilly Thai.

“She’s such a positive and warm presence in your life and (such a) smart person,” she told the publication. “She was just so happy, and she’s still like that now, she’s no different.”

Thai’s funeral will be held at Centennial Park Cemetery on Thursday, June 29.

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Source: 7 News