Australian dancer Roz Hervey uses final days to champion voluntary assisted dying
Dancer Roz Hervey, battling motor neurone disease, recorded a video with her daughter Tilda to urge greater awareness of voluntary assisted dying.
Roz Hervey, a 58-year-old Adelaide-based dancer and artistic director, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2022 and given two years to live. In her final weeks she asked her daughter Tilda Cobham-Hervey to record a video urging Australians to become informed about voluntary assisted dying and to push for changes to current safeguards. Roz criticized the requirement that doctors confirm death within twelve months before a VAD permit can be issued and the prohibition on South Australian doctors initiating VAD discussions.
Her family, including husband Geoff Cobham and son Huey Cobham-Hervey, observed the recording. The appeal aims to increase public knowledge, as a recent advocacy group study found only one in three Australians were aware of VAD as an option for terminal illness.
Why it matters
The story highlights personal advocacy for end-of-life rights and gaps in public awareness of voluntary assisted dying.
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