On what would have been her 30th birthday, footage of terminal cancer sufferer Brittany Maynard, who ended her life on November 1, was released.
Issued yesterday by right-to-die advocacy group Compassion & Dignity, with whom Maynard campaigned before her death, the video shows her calling on more states to make assisted suicide legal.
"I hope for the sake of other American citizens...that this choice be extended to you. That this right, that we mobilise, that we vocalise, that we start to talk about it," she said in the three minute clip.
"I decided to share my story because I felt like this issue of death with dignity is misunderstood by many people in our community and culture, and I really wanted people to understand that as I started went through the process of being approved...that I felt very valued by my physicians here, and very protected, there's no way I could have possibly been coerced into this."
"If I can play even the smallest part in helping to reduce fear or misunderstanding then it's worth speaking up for," she added.
Maynard was diagnosed with a brain tumour on January 1 this year. She was later told that she had just six months to live, and decided to end her life before her illness became too debilitating.
She moved to Oregon, one of five states in the US where assisted dying is legal, and campaigned for dignity in dying in her last few months, becoming the face of Compassion & Choices.
A spokesperson for the organisation confirmed her death on November 1. "Brittany suffered increasingly frequent and longer seizures, severe head and neck pain, and stroke-like symptoms," a statement read.
"As symptoms grew more severe, she chose to abbreviate the dying process by taking the aid-in-dying medication she had received months ago. This choice is authorised under the Oregon Death With Dignity Act. She died as she intended – peacefully in her bedroom, in the arms of her loved ones."
"Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love. Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me...but would have taken so much more," Maynard wrote on Facebook ahead of her death.
"The world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher, my close friends and folks are the greatest givers. I even have a ring of support around my bed as I type...Goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward!"
Barbara Coombs Lee, the president of Compassion & Choices, yesterday hailed Maynard as "the new voice for a generation of activists".
"As we mark what would be her 30th birthday, we recall Brittany's selfless efforts to help ensure that other dying Americans get access to the death-with-dignity choice," Lee said in a statement.
"Brittany Maynard is the new voice for the movement."
