Mother seeks justice after son’s assisted suicide

 

When 26-year-old Lucas Taylor informed his family of his decision to move from Berlin, where he had been working, to Japan to pursue career options, it seemed like a fresh start.

Little did his mother, Judi, home in Melbourne, know that March 5, 2012, would be the last time she would speak to her son. On April 26, Lucas’ body was discovered dead in an abandoned shed in Dresden, Germany.

Lucas had moved to Berlin from Australia in 2010 to work. When he became unemployed, he informed his family that he was going to meet friends in Europe, then fly to Japan to get a job.

On March 28, 2012, Judi received a letter from Dresden railway station, sent three weeks earlier, telling her Lucas had left his luggage there on March 12 and if she didn’t collect it, it would be destroyed.

Judi filed a missing persons report and with the help of her son, Bryce, hacked into Lucas’ email and Facebook account in an attempt to locate him which led them to an alternate email address.

Lucas had had email correspondence with euthanasia information and advocacy organisation, Exit International, and through members on the forum, gained access to the barbiturate drug, Nembutal.

Judi said there had been no warning so it was a complete shock to the family as they’d never even heard of Exit.

“I wondered why he would want to kill himself,” she said. “He was unemployed. He did an arts degree that he always regretted. He was a very deep-thinker. Things that were unjust at school would really upset him.

“He did carry a lot on his shoulders. I don’t know if anything had actually happened over there in Berlin. I don’t know if he self-diagnosed on Google or whether he was just severely depressed and decided that life wasn’t worth living. I’m just left guessing.”

Judi said there have been a lot of “don’t know whys”, but after contacting the Victorian Coroner’s Court two years ago, she has finally been asked to make a submission.

Philip Nitschke, founder of Exit International said that his organisation should not have to take the blame for the death of individuals like Lucas and that society held some of the responsibility.

“It’s all very well for mothers for example to say: ‘This is a tragedy. My son went out and killed [himself],’ but what rarely happens is for the families themselves to look very closely at the family dynamics that may have underpinned some of that decision making,” he said.

“Those same individuals who want this information banned are totally unaware of, or it seems unconcerned, about the fact that the provision of this information is immensely beneficial to large numbers of elderly people.”

Exit International’s website says the organisation only provides membership to adults aged 50 and over and asks for photographic identification. However, with one tick of a box and possible fake photographic ID, Lucas gained access to the Exit forum online.

Mr Nitschke said that Exit upholds the age restriction as best they can by asking potential members for photographic identification, asking why they’re interested in Exit and want access to resources, such as the Peaceful Pill Handbook, and conducting searches based on their email addresses.

“We find people, in a sense, who are lying to us about why it is that they want access to the book,” he said. “If they’re doing that, we can, and we do, say quite quickly that because of that, they’re not going to be given access.

“If a person comes along and sets out to deceive and gets away with it and then effectively ends their life, what can you do about people who are out there attempting to try and thwart processes and get whatever they want? They may well have been acting in an informed way.”

Judi said that there was no record of Lucas ever being asked for photographic identification. He only had to pay his membership fee to gain full access.

Lucas told Exit International forum users that he had decided to use Nembutal in one of these posts. “Other people said, ‘Yep, that’s the way to go,’” Judi said. “No one ever said, ‘Why are you here? What’s your story?’”

In one of his final posts, Lucas admitted he was able-bodied and healthy. He asked how much Nembutal he needed to take. “A Doctor Ted, who was advertised in the newsletter as being a new staff member to handle questions told him it didn’t matter,” Judi said. “All he needed to do was…

“If he’d actually spoken to anybody about it who wasn’t from Exit, maybe they would’ve pointed out to him that this isn’t like choosing a university. This is something a whole lot more serious.”

Lucas and Judi Taylor 2010

Lucas told users on the forum that he would fly to Peru and “follow the plan”. Judi said he made bookings at a particular hotel and she found email receipts of tours he had planned which he said was suggested so that no one would be suspicious.

“Others said they were going to follow what was in the book, make sure lots of alcohol and cigarettes were around to make it look like they’d had a big night out, fallen over and died from misadventure,” she said.

“People inherently want to do the right thing. They think that at the end, it’ll be okay, they won’t be upsetting anybody and they’ve cleaned up the mess. What could be better? It becomes a selling point.”

Mr Nitschke said this practice is common amongst members who end their lives. “There’s a stigma associated with suicide and sometimes people don’t want that to be the case,” he said. “Many people don’t want ‘Cause of death: suicide’ on their death certificate.”

After purchasing Nembutal, users advised Lucas how to bring it back into Germany. Judi said the advice was detailed enough to include what type of clothing he should wear so he wouldn’t look like a drug-dealer.

“They said: ‘Don’t go via Berlin, it’ll be picked up. Go via Munich, for example, because it’s easy and they can’t check everybody,” she said. “There was a lot of mob mentality. It was if they were going on a camping holiday except they weren’t. They were killing themselves.”

Paul Russell, Executive Director at HOPE, an organisation that aims to prevent euthanasia, said even if euthanasia was administered by medical professionals, it could change how they see their patients over time

“When that kind of development happens, there’s no logical reason for not allowing anyone who wants it to have it regardless of whether they’re sick or not,” he said. “In principle, I wonder what would happen to the medical profession when those who are charged with healing all of a sudden also have the capability of killing.”

Mr Nitschke said that disenfranchising elderly people who benefit from access to information based on individuals who acted in ways that were not in their best interest is something he finds discriminatory and can never support.

“We’re trying to balance two things here and you should not, I think, use the example of one tragedy to try and then say that no one should get the information, because in my view, that’s a much bigger tragedy,” he said.

However, Mr Russel said that euthanasia in any circumstance is an act of despair which could have an impact that is much worse than expected if legalised in Australia.

“Once we start to talk in terms of euthanasia for people who are suffering from terminal illnesses, we really are giving a very clear message that we don’t see any hope and perhaps they shouldn’t either.”

Today Sunshine Tomorrow Cannes

What does the little western suburb of Sunshine have in common with the likes of Hollywood and Cannes?

The answer isn’t the usual tale of high-speed chases and crime which haunts the suburb like a historical myth. Instead, the reason lies with the Sunshine Short Film Festival (SSFF) which attracted international entries for the first time this year.

Standing in front of an audience that almost filled a room at Village Cinema, Sunshine Plaza, Bruce White, president of the Sunshine Business Association (SBA) and founding member of the SSFF, made an announcement.

“For the first time, the Sunshine Short Film Festival is the Sunshine International Short Film Festival,” he said with pride, acknowledging entries from France and Germany.

Going back four years, the festival had a humble beginning. It started as one of several events put on by the newly established SBA to celebrate the 150th anniversary of local government and the change of name from Braybrook Junction to Sunshine.

Residents had petitioned for the name of Sunshine after the Sunshine Harvester Works, an agricultural machinery manufacturing business based there, which became the largest manufacturing plant in Australia at the time.

Being a largely industrial area, the suburb wasn’t designed to be scenic and gained a reputation as being working-class and one of the poorer, disadvantaged suburbs.

Mr White said that this is a historical mindset which isn’t specific to Melbourne’s west. “You’re not in the affluent suburbs if you’re from the western suburbs because you’re away from the water,” he said. “You’re in the blue-collar worker sector and you’re not as refined, or so the people believe.”

It was this mindset that Mr White hoped to change when he and two other volunteers organised a 30 minute documentary on the history of Sunshine that was screened to 4000 school children – a huge success.

“We got the feedback that the kids were very proud of the suburb then,” he said. “Traditionally, kids felt a little bit embarrassed to say to people they lived in Sunshine because of the stigmas and all that that goes with it.”

The 30 minute documentary developed into the idea of a film festival which would engage and teach young people to take pride in Sunshine’s heritage and familiarise older people with technology.

The Government provided a grant for the first Sunshine Short Film Festival in 2012 which was themed “Living in a Land Down Under”. The only conditions the SSFF committee gave to film makers were that it be filmed locally and make a reference to Sunshine.

Sixteen films were entered by families and various multicultural groups explaining why they lived in Sunshine. One of them, Mr White said, was filmed on a mobile phone by a 65-year-old woman who had never worked with technology before.

The festival was broadcast by GO GREEK TV, a Greek Foxtel channel, on Christmas Eve. It received an estimated 65,000 views Nationwide and the highest ratings that particular program had had that year, promoting the festival across Australia.

According to Mr White, now that the festival had National recognition, the second film festival themed “Sunshine Rising” became more about growing Sunshine’s brand than its history. The winning entry, a parody of South Korean pop star Psy’s “Gangnam Style” went viral overnight.

“Rising Sunshine Style”, a humorous take on the perception of Sunshine as a dangerous area, achieved over 30,000 views on YouTube in 24 hours and had journalists from Perth and A Current Affair calling Mr White for interviews with the winners.

Mr White said the video was so successful that a Charcoal Chicken shop in Sunshine Plaza which featured in the film opened two other stores as a consequence of the increase in business it received.

This wasn’t the only film featured in the festival that became popular. Sunshine resident, Andrew Robb’s five minute documentary on a local Vietnamese man who made Tofu for Sunshine’s Vietnamese community won the mobile phone category in 2013.

“Tofu Man” went on to win Best Documentary in the St Kilda Film Festival and was screened in California as part of a Vietnamese film festival. Mr Robb said this is a great example of what can be done, even without impressive technology.

“There [are] no technical requirements,” he said. “They’re not looking for the sharpest, highest production values in terms of film making. You don’t have to have the best technology you just have to have a good story.”

In 2014, the film festival went further to involve young people. The SBA partnered with Headspace, an organization for youth help and support, to hold a flash mob or surprise dance to promote the festival and its Halloween theme in a fun, unique way.

Thirty young people spent three months learning to dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” before performing outside Village Cinema in Sunshine Plaza. Andrea Skinner, a Community Awareness Officer at Headspace said that the event gave them a sense of purpose.

“The young people all felt very proud of themselves, having overcome some significant fears and anxiety in publically performing,” she said. “[The flash mob] provided a sense of inclusion and belonging and helped them with their social skills, developing confidence and self esteem.”

The 2015 film festival continued to raise awareness through a superhero theme chosen by the 2014 audience only this time, through the film makers.

People in costumes as fictional heroes and villains, otherwise known as cosplayers, created a red carpet vibe with cameras flashing and children dressed in colourful superhero costumes posing for photos with them.

But rather than films about traditional fictional superheroes, each film maker showed their own interpretation of the definition of a hero, taking the opportunity to create discussion about relevant societal issues.

The open category winning film “Ms Mighty” targeted sexism in the workplace, featuring a clumsy female superhero wannabe working with three men who pointedly excluded her before she developed self-confidence and became “Ms Mighty”, refusing to be left behind anymore.

Hayley Adams, producer of “Ms Mighty” came from the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne for the film festival. She said in an interview that she and the writers of the film were very feminist and wanted to get the message out.

“We knew when the superhero theme was announced that it would be quite male dominated,” she said. “So we wanted to do something a little bit different and sort of address those issues.”

“Ms Mighty” production team

The Friends of Kororoit Creek, an environmental group that conduct conservation work in the local community also presented a short film to the audience on being environmental heroes and cleaning and caring for the suburb.

This, Mr Robb said, was a great example of the cross-community effect of the film festival. “It’s not just for film lovers, but also reaches a broader community.”

The SSFF also indirectly tackled employment challenges for film makers. The Academy of Design Australia offers a scholarship to the entrant of the SSFF who shows the most promise in film and design, but alongside the scholarship, Mr White said people are entering work programs.

“The second year I think, one of the film makers ended up getting some commercial work in doing promotional films for different businesses,” he said. “Another one went and did some work with Film Victoria. And I’m pretty sure someone went into a sound engineering job as well.”

This year, the festival attracted 65 entries including three from Cabramatta Primary School in New South Wales and entries from France and Germany which Mr White said was a result of the prize pool of $5000.

“A lot of film festivals say you have to film within this time frame. It has to be fresh, never been seen before,” he said. “We don’t have that criteria. So if someone’s made a film for another event and it fits the brief we give, they send it through in the off-chance it’ll get screened and they’ll get money.”

Mr Robb said that he and most local and budding film makers do it for the love of film making and for the experience. “I love making short films and I like being part of the local community so all those things combined encourage me to enter each year,” he said.

“The festival offers a lot of benefits to new film makers because it encourages them to get involved and there’s a very high chance that you’ll see your film on the screen. It gives them a deadline to work to and discipline because it has to be five minutes and fit the particular theme.”

Mr White said that word spread so fast through local papers and social media that people are seeking them out to participate including the WTFN Network which is looking at films from the festival to turn into television programmes to sell overseas in China and Europe.

The festival is set to continue growing next year, with a “Knights in Sunshine” theme, bringing new film makers and the community together from all over Melbourne to celebrate the artistic diversity of Sunshine.

Click here to see the Sunshine Short Film Festival in full swing.