A 26-year-old woman who has been told she has less than a year to live is making the most of the time she has left after deciding to pursue voluntary assisted dying.
Since she was a young child, Annalise Holland, from Adelaide, Australia, has been in and out of hospitals. She suffers from Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy (AAG), a rare condition caused by the body’s own immune system mistakenly attacking the body.
“I’ve been sick since being a child really, I lived in and out of the hospital ever since I went in for nine months,” she told news.com.au.
“It actually took until I transitioned to the adult hospital that we found the diagnosis, and it came back that I did have this autoimmune disease that was causing it all along.”
Over the years she’s had to undergo multiple operations, resulting in meters of her bowel being removed. While AAG is not always fatal, doctors told Holland the damage to her body is irreversible.
“My stool would back up so much that I would throw it up or drain it out my tummy,” she explained. “I was put on something called Total Parenteral Nutrition or TPN and that’s basically a bag of nutrition that’s delivered directly into your bloodstream through like, a line in your chest.”
Annalise Holland will end her life with voluntary assisted dying
The 26-year-old has already chosen the date she plans to end her life through Australia’s voluntary assisted dying (VAD) program.
Rather than focusing on what lies ahead, Holland has turned her attention to a “f*** it” list – a personal collection of experiences she wants to have while she still can.
Annalise has already crossed several items off that list, including renting her own apartment, taking a helicopter ride, watching a friend give birth, and seeing her father’s reaction as she put on a wedding dress.
Speaking to A Current Affair, Holland explained the reality of her condition.
“If this vein gets blocked, then basically there’s no way of giving me hydration or food… you basically starve to death,” she said.
After being informed that she is likely to have less than a year to live, Holland decided to apply for Australia’s voluntary assisted dying program. To qualify, a person must be living with a condition that is expected to cause death within six to 12 months, as assessed by two specially trained doctors.
Holland has already selected the date she wishes to die, although she has chosen not to share it publicly.
“The most important thing is protecting my family,” she said, according to VT.
Holland has spoken openly about finding peace in her decision. During an appearance on the Hack podcast, she said deciding when to die “was a really happy thing,” according to VT.
“When you’ve been sick for such a long time, it becomes something that’s not so scary.
“It sounds strange, but it’s incredibly empowering,” she added.
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