After witnessing his mother fight cancer for years before deciding to pass away peacefully, a West Australian man posted his mother’s story on TikTok in the hopes that it would start a national dialogue on voluntary assisted dying.
Jeffrey Eaton has spoken out over the passing of his mother, Lynette Sullivan, 82, who, after a protracted and draining journey earlier this week, sought voluntary assisted dying in Western Australia PerthNow reports.
After battling breast cancer for years and having a mastectomy, Lynette Sullivan was later diagnosed with lung cancer.
Despite receiving radiation, the tumor “didn’t shrink,” according to his son Jeffrey Eaton. When Lynette Sullivan was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the beginning of 2025, the family suffered yet another setback.
The family had yet another setback in the beginning of 2025 when Lynette Sullivan was found to have a brain tumor.However, his son stated that he was aware that a tough choice was imminent as her health deteriorated and her falls increased frequently.
She was formally marked as palliative by November. Jeffrey Eaton also asked why options for more treatments were still being made.
The family started looking into the option of voluntary assisted dying in late December.Together, they called the main phone number of the voluntary assisted dying care team and started the official procedure.
Before assigning Lynette Sullivan a Voluntary Assisted Dying practitioner, the service collected her medical data to assess her eligibility; in this instance, a general practitioner signed her up for the program.
It took almost a week and a half to complete the initial assessment. Another doctor gave his clearance two weeks later. In order to finalize consent, the doctor made a second visit on February 12.
Despite being on a two-hour regimen for pain medication in her final weeks, Jeffrey Eaton stated that she denied morphine and instead decided to go to sleep on the morning of February 16.
Rather, friends and family came together. The doctor gave Lynn the thumbs up after administering an anesthetic and inserting a cannula, and Lynn returned the favor by indicating that she was prepared to leave.
