A 23-year-old woman who will end her life through euthanasia is spending her final 24 hours ‘relaxing’ and farewelling friends and family.
Lily Thai is scheduled to die on Wednesday via South Australia‘s voluntary assisted dying laws, which the state introduced in January.
The young woman has suffered ‘excruciating’ pain from a rare condition known as auto-immune autonomic ganglionopathy – where a person’s body attacks their own nervous system.
Since the age of 17, Lily has suffered debilitating illnesses that robbed her of a life, leaving her bedridden and unable to move.
She is currently receiving palliative care at the Flinders Medical Centre’s Laurel Hospice.
Lily said she was not well enough to go outside in her final days and instead would remain in her bed while being comforted by her loved ones, The Advertiser reported.
One person who’s been by Lily’s side is her close friend and ambulance officer Danika Pederzolli, 28.
Ms Pederzolli recently took Lily out to the beach, with a heartwarming snap showing the pair sitting in the back of an open ambulance while enjoying the sight of the ocean and some McDonald’s fries.
Ms Pederzolli, who met Lily through a St John’s Ambulance cadet program, said she would remember her close friend as having a ‘vibrant attitude, positive and warm presence’.
‘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.’
She described Lily as ‘sunshine in human form’ and wrote her a heartfelt note that she gifted to her along with a teddy bear.
Ms Pederzolli added that it was ‘pretty horrible’ what Lily was going through and a situation that ‘no young person should be in’ but said the support for her has been ‘beautiful’.
Lily said the support she’s received after sharing her story has been incredible.
‘Lots of people (who) I haven’t spoken to in a long time (have reached out), which has been absolutely beautiful,’ she said.
Lily signed the paperwork last week confirming her decision to have her life terminated.
She has been battling health issues since she was a teenager, with a doctor first diagnosing her with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome at 17.
A year later, she caught an upper respiratory infection that left her unable to walk, use her bowels, eat, or drink without getting sick.
She received treatment for a spinal fluid leak, which she initially believed she had, but it didn’t improve her condition.
Lily then travelled to Sydney and eventually found some relief through expert care provided by a team of doctors at Macquarie University Hospital.
She had also visited a surgeon who specialised in patients with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
By this stage, her condition had deteriorated to the point that she was wearing a halo brace – which forms a ring around the patient’s head, stopping them from moving their head or neck while their spine heels.
She also had to use a nasal feeding tube as she couldn’t eat anything without getting sick, leaving her tipping the scales at 40kg.
Lily had spinal fusion surgery and was fitted with a tube to help with stomach acid secretion.
The surgery occurred during the middle of the Covid pandemic, meaning she was not allowed visitors. She got discharged early as she struggled being alone for such a long period of time.
Lily was then referred to a neuroimmunologist in Sydney who formally diagnosed her with AAG.
It was then she also discovered her condition had led to multi-organ failure and a large lesion was found on the left side of her brain.
Lily went back to Adelaide and was admitted to Flinders Medical Centre’s Laurel Hospices, where she spends her days ‘just surviving’.
She’s grappled with the heartbreaking thought that she only had a matter of time before her body gave up.
Lily spends most of her time sleeping in her hospital bed to avoid dealing with the constant chronic pain from her condition.
It had also been lonely, if not for family visits and the close friendship she struck up with fellow patient, Annaliese Holland, 23, who also suffers from the same condition.
Annaliese’s symptoms had begun from the age of 12 with severe pelvic pain. Doctors initially believed she had endometriosis, but after treatment her symptoms still grew worse.
Doctors tested her for a number of illnesses throughout her teenage years, but were unable to diagnose her.
When signing the third written request last week, her devastated mother had to step out of the room to compose herself.
‘I feel pretty numb. I know how hard it will be for my family and friends,’ Lily previously told the Adelaide Advertiser.
‘But 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 said.
Also nearby will be her Flinders Medical Centre Laurel Hospice wardmate Annaliese Holland, also 23-years-old, with the pair striking up a close friendship after discovering they both suffered from AAG.
Lily revealed she would not well enough to leave her bed on Wednesday but will spend the day relaxing as a steady stream of friends and family visit her.
She added the outpouring of support from people across the country had been comforting and many old friends had reached out to reconnect which had been ‘beautiful’.
