Dying man's suicide bid

A terminally ill man tried to take his own life in the early hours of yesterday morning in an act euthanasia advocates described as "tragic".

The Whangarei 72-year-old left a suicide note on his kitchen bench before going to a secluded part of his property.

His wife found the note and alerted her son who went looking for his dad. He was found several hours later, alive but in a serious condition.

Acting Sergeant Conan Brown said police were called to the rural address in Whangarei Heads just after 7am yesterday.

Brown said the man's injuries were serious and he deteriorated on the journey to the hospital. He was now believed to be stable.

Police said the man had ongoing medical problems and had been in constant pain.

Euthanasia Society of NZ president Kevin Brennan said the man's case was heartbreaking but not surprising.

"These sorts of situations, which we're trying to point out, are occurring.

"They're just so tragic that a human being has to go through this process. It's cases like this that ring home the suffering that's involved."

Brennan said it was a debate MPs needed to have.

Euthanasia campaigner Lesley Martin said if the man knew he had options for an assisted, legal death he may have been prepared to "carry on the journey" through his terminal illness.

"It's another case of someone who has ended up in a very sad situation because we don't have assisted-dying legislation in New Zealand," she said.

Martin, who served half of a 15-month prison sentence for the attempted murder of her mother Joy Martin with an overdose of morphine on May 28, 1999, said the situation would be "beyond hard" for the man's family to deal with.

"I can't think that any of us who are not faced with this can ever understand how deeply traumatic this is.

"It will change the way they feel about death and dying. It will go from something natural to something horrific and traumatic. All I can say is he must have been in a pretty desperate state of mind for him to take this option."

Last month the Herald on Sunday reported the case of terminally ill GP Dr John Pollock who spoke in favour of voluntary euthanasia.