Petrina’s father, Peter, suffered a painful death from terminal cancer last year. Petrina's father lived in Mt Gambier, just 20 minutes away from the Victorian border where Voluntary Assisted Dying is legal. Peter talked about how different it would be if he lived over the border. By virtue of his postcode, Peter was denied a peaceful death.

Petrina's father knew he had terminal cancer. He and his family talked to the doctor and Peter said he did not want further treatment. Peter and his family believed that the local hospital would provide good palliative care, providing sedation and pain relief as required.

They discovered that even though Petrina's father was in palliative care, in a hospital, medical staff did not provide enough medication to relieve his suffering. After weeks of pain, Peter was finally moved to a nursing home. It was in the nursing home where he finally received sedation and pain relief. He died three days later. 

Watch Petrina telling the harrowing story here.