David Goodall: 104-year-old British-born scientist dies through voluntary euthanasia in Switzerland

Assisted dying is legal in Switzerland but opposed by many doctors

David Goodall, the 104-year-old British-born scientist who travelled to Switzerland to end his life, has died.

The botanist and ecologist had told The Independent that “in a way I’m looking forward to it, as an end”, having previously said he regretted living so long.

He had campaigned for years for people’s right to assisted suicide including in Australia, his adopted home.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Goodall told reporters: “At my age, and even at rather less than my age, one wants to be free to choose the death and when the death is the appropriate time.

“My abilities have been declining over the past year or two, and my eyesight for the past five or six years, and I no longer want to continue life.”

The number of assisted suicides has been growing fast, according to the Swiss federal statistics office. Nine years ago, there were 297. By 2015, the most recent year tabulated, the figure had more than tripled to 965.

Nearly 15 per cent of the cases last year involved people under 65 years old.

Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland but is criticised by a large number of doctors who say it should be reserved for people who are terminally ill.

Mr Goodall began to prepare for an assisted death 20 years ago as a member of Exit International, a campaign group.

“Five or six years ago” he began to lose his independence due to failing eyesight and other problems, he told The Independent on Wednesday.

Voicing his surprise at the amount of media attention he had received, the scientist added he was “hopeful for change” in the law within the next decade.

Additional reporting by agencies