Inquiry keeps memory of Lecretia Seales alive

Lecretia Seales lost her battle with brain cancer three weeks ago. Photo / Supplied

The memory of Lecretia Seales is being kept alive by an inquiry into voluntary euthanasia, according to her husband.

Three weeks ago today, Ms Seales lost her battle with brain cancer and that afternoon her husband Matt Vickers fronted the nation's media to challenge politicians to change the law on assisted suicide.

Before her death, she learned a High Court judge refused a ruling to allow Ms Seales' doctor to help her die without criminal prosecution, saying the "complex legal, philosophical, moral and clinical issues" can only be addressed by Parliament.

Now, Mr Vickers is determined to keep pushing the voluntary euthanasia debate and said the decision by the Health Select Committee to hold an inquiry is a "win" for his late wife.

"These last few weeks, my life has been turned upside down. Lecretia's passed away and there's the [inquiry] to deal with but I've also lost my wife, which is huge in it's own right," Mr Vickers told the Herald this morning.

"Lecretia is a huge part of my life and not having her around anymore is hard. But with this [inquiry] taking place, it's kind of like she's still here, in a way. It's keeping her memory alive...it's heartening because the last few weeks have been pretty tough.

A very private person, Ms Seales never sought to be the face of the right-to-die campaign in New Zealand and Mr Vickers told the Herald the decision to go public, which was an inevitable consequence of the legal bid, was difficult.

"When she got sick, our focus was always about her getting better. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery...it was only late last year, when our options were running out, that Lecretia came to terms with the fact it might not end the way we wanted to. At that point, she started to think about her end of life situation.

"When she told me that she wanted to take proceedings, I think I tried to talk her out of it," Mr Vickers said, laughing. "But she was very committed to this course of action and she convinced me that it was the right thing to do. She knew it would draw some attention, I don't think she knew how much, but she was quite heartened to how people reacted."

Mr Vickers feels a responsibility to pursue "Lecretia's legacy" and this week presented the End-of-Life Choice petition, with 8975 signatures, to MPs from across the political spectrum.

His wife's case has attracted attention worldwide, as other countries were also wrestling with the assisted suicide debate, so Mr Vickers said the spotlight would now be on the politicians sitting on the Health Select Committee.

He hoped the inquiry would have an evidence-based approach with clear terms of reference, public submissions controlled in a defined way and a panel of advisors.

"The eyes of the world will be on this select committee. If they don't do a good job, they're going to look pretty silly," said Mr Vickers. "But the fact the there is going to be an inquiry and fully engage is really promising."

"We're putting this down as a win for Lecretia."