The quadriplegic who was at the centre of a right-to-die controversy recently has passed away. Christian Rossiter died of a chest infection after winning the right not to be fed artificially.

Mr Rossiter was only 49 and could not bear the thought of spending the rest of his life on life support.

Sadly, we don’t have a choice in when we are born and who will be our parents. I believe the ultimate freedom is the right to decide when we will die and how, if that can be arranged. That is what I call real self-determination.

It’s a shame that Mr Rossiter had to fight to starve to death and finally succumbed to a chest infection. It could not have been an easy death for him, but then, his life was intolerable. Too bad he could not have had any compassionate and actual medical assistance to depart with relief.

Perhaps one day we will give the same consideration to human beings as we do to our beloved pets.