Wellington woman Annemarie Treadwell’s death trigger for Police euthanasia furore

Stuff co.nz 28 October 2016
Family First Comment: Very sad – and evidence of the vulnerability of the person.
“I did not and do not want to be a burden to my children,” Treadwell wrote in January. She said she suffered from chronic pain, arthritis, clinical depression, and short-term memory problems.
“Not for them the worry whether mum ‘has fallen downs the stairs’ at home or worrying phone calls from her neighbours. No feelings of stress or guilt for the family members who scarcely have time for their meeting their own needs.”
The controversial police investigation into a euthanasia group followed the death of Annemarie Treadwell, a Wellington woman who supported Maryan Street’s petition in support of assisted dying.
Treadwell died on June 6 in Wellington, aged 77.
“This was a person who was a member of Exit for a number of years, and an elderly person who was trying to make sure she had some choices,” Dr Philip Nitschke, the founder of Exit International, said on Friday.
Another source also said Treadwell’s death, and subsequent coronial investigation, spawned the widely-criticised police checkpoints targeting members of Exit International.
On Friday, a Hutt Valley teacher appeared in court charged with importing a drug used for euthanasia. Susan Dale Austen, 65, faced one charge of importing the narcotic sedative pentobarbitone, known as Nembutal, between March 2012 and October 2016, and one of importing on September 30.
She appeared before a Wellington District Court registrar and was remanded until February without entering a plea.She appeared before a Wellington District Court registrar and was remanded until February without entering a plea.
‘I WILL NOT HAVE TO GO ON SUFFERING’
“I did not and do not want to be a burden to my children,” Treadwell wrote in January. She said she suffered from chronic pain, arthritis, clinical depression, and short-term memory problems.
“Not for them the worry whether mum ‘has fallen downs the stairs’ at home or worrying phone calls from her neighbours. No feelings of stress or guilt for the family members who scarcely have time for their meeting their own needs.”
READ MORE: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/85828119/wellington-woman-annemarie-treadwells-death-trigger-for-police-euthanasia-furore

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