Aust quadriplegic dies after winning right to refuse treatment

PERTH - Perth quadriplegic Christian Rossiter has died of an infection, five weeks after a court granted him the right to refuse food and water.

Seven Network says Rossiter (49), died in a Perth nursing home late on Sunday night (local time). It said Rossiter had refused medical treatment for a chest infection.

In August, West Australian Supreme Court Chief Justice Wayne Martin handed down a landmark ruling that effectively gave Rossiter an avenue to die by starving to death.

A series of injuries combined to make Rossiter a spastic quadriplegic last year, and he described his life as a living hell.

Rossiter had asked the Brightwater Care Group at least 40 times to stop feeding and hydrating him through a tube to his stomach, before the matter was taken to court.

- AAP