Loved ones weigh in on NSW man Scott Hollingshed’s decision to end his life as he reveals final fear
Scott Hollingshed made a decision to end his life by lethal injection on Friday.
His family say they believe he made the right decision.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: NSW man reveals final fear before legally ending his life.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Sitting at his Central Coast home on Friday morning, the 58-year-old said his final goodbyes to his friends and partner before he was due to receive the injections that would end his life.
Scott’s loved ones, who have watched his condition deteriorate, told 7NEWS they believe he has made the right decision.
“It’s hard to see somebody at their end ... it’s very emotional,” Scott’s friend Kat O’Brien said.
“He was in a very emotional state ... even just waking up knowing it was his last morning to wake up.
“But I feel very deeply that he is doing the right thing for himself and I say that because I’ve seen him go from being pretty robust to then having this news, and it just really went downhill very very fast and he’s lost that autonomy as a man. “
O’Brien was by Scott’s side on Friday morning, helping to try to ease his anxieties.
![Scott Hollingshed was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in June.](https://images.thenightly.com.au/publication/C-15566918/f886a167ec9c450625185cc07c32e4e6a407e450.jpg?imwidth=810)
“I just said it’ll be OK, and you need to just relax and talk to whoever you want to talk to today and have a cup of coffee and just try to be at ease,” she said.
“He was scared, and he wanted to talk through some things.”
When 7NEWS spoke with Scott on Friday morning, he said he was at peace with his decision to spend his final time comfortable in his own home.
“I can see my friends and say goodbye properly instead of in a clinical hospital environment,” he said. “Where they get limited visiting hours and the food was c***.”
Final fear revealed
“I’m at peace with dying, the thing that upsets me and scares me is leaving the people behind and what they’ve got to go through.
“It’s not something they deserve — they’ve got to live with this, and I’m not going to be here.”
Voluntary assisted dying was not a decision that came easy for Hollingshed, but stage 4 cancer made each day more difficult than the last.
“I’m at the point where I’ve got something you just can’t fix,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.
Some days, the simple act of eating is more than he can muster the energy for.
He’s no stranger to death, having watched his father die in hospice care.
“But seeing him wither away ... I don’t want to see myself like that and I don’t want other people to see me like that, especially people who care about me,” Hollingshed said.
“I’ve been given the control to say, ‘All right, it’s time’.”
Humane choice
In November, NSW became the last state in Australia to allow people to end their lives with help from a health practitioner.
Under the current legalisation, voluntary assisted dying is only available for NSW residents older than 18 who have an advanced illness or disease that will cause death in at least 12 months and is causing them suffering that cannot be relieved.
Patients must make the request voluntarily and have the capacity for decision-making.
In the program’s first three months, 517 people requested access to VAD — of those, 131 people have now died, according to the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Board’s first report in June.
![Scott Hollingshed bought a yacht with his partner then began experiencing chest pains.](https://images.thenightly.com.au/publication/C-15566918/5e0c1f6f841efc42d38ad6ee9e5fb52bee00578a.jpg?imwidth=810)
In May, Hollingshed had just bought a yacht with his partner and was enjoying life on the water when he suffered chest pains.
“I’ve had heart attacks before but I knew it wasn’t my heart,” he said.
Soon, Hollingshed was coughing up blood and unable to sleep on his side without spluttering.
By June, he had a diagnosis — lung cancer.
Doctors said he would not survive chemotherapy, and other treatments only offered a sliver of hope.
He was given three to six months to live but his condition deteriorated faster than expected and even strong painkillers could no longer help his suffering.
“It got to the point where I couldn’t even put my socks on and my missus used to get down on her hands and knees and put my socks on,” Hollingshed said.
Close friend Kellie Lott started a fundraiser to help Hollinghsed “pass with dignity”.
“He’s had a very hard go,” she told 7NEWS.com.au.
“He’s such a brave soul.
“His life has been cut short.”
Hollingshed has been livestreaming his cancer journey online, sharing raw and emotional updates about life since his diagnosis.
He hopes his story can help at least one person be brave and open up about their own journey, or better understand someone else’s.