In a heart-wrenching decision that has sparked conversations about end-of-life care, a 25-year-old Australian woman has chosen to end her suffering through voluntary assisted dying after battling a rare neurological disease throughout her entire life.
A Lifetime of Medical Struggles
Annaliese Holland revealed that she has been ill since childhood, suffering from a condition that caused chronic pain, persistent nausea, and frequent vomiting. For the past ten years, she has depended entirely on intravenous feeding to survive.
Doctors eventually diagnosed her with autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy, an extremely rare autoimmune disorder where the body attacks its own autonomic ganglia. These crucial nerves control involuntary bodily functions that most people take for granted.
Years before receiving this diagnosis, Holland experienced severe bowel complications that behaved as if blocked, despite medical scans showing no physical obstruction. Standard feeding tubes proved completely ineffective as she continued vomiting uncontrollably.
The Medical Reality of Survival
When medical professionals discovered her stomach wasn't emptying properly, they placed her on total parenteral nutrition (TPN), a method that delivers nutrients directly into the bloodstream through an IV, completely bypassing the digestive system.
"Because of the line straight into your bloodstream, if you get an infection, it turns to sepsis really quickly, which is very, very dangerous," Holland explained. She has survived sepsis, a life-threatening reaction where the body's response to infection damages its own tissues and organs, an astonishing 25 times.
Doctors spent years trying to identify the mysterious illness plaguing her. It wasn't until Holland turned 18 and transferred to an adult hospital that she finally received her diagnosis. By age 22, she learned her condition was terminal.
The Turning Point and Final Decision
The extensive medications required to manage her condition severely weakened her bones, leading to severe osteoporosis. This resulted in constant pain from four spinal fractures, a fractured sternum, and nearly catastrophic pressure on her heart and lungs.
"I was so miserable," Holland shared. "You can't change it so you have to just deal with it really. Even though there's beautiful moments in my days, they are exhausting and long. I'm in chronic debilitating pain."
Her illness confined her to watching life pass by from hospital rooms, where she celebrated both her 18th and 21st birthdays while her friends married and started families. "Everyone's life is moving, and I'm just stuck. I'm not living. I'm surviving every day, which is tough," she said, describing her disease as "walking on a field of landmines."
The crucial moment came when her father, Patrick, witnessed her being revived by hospital staff after she pleaded, "Dad, please let me go. I won't hate you if you do." This heartbreaking conversation helped him understand her perspective.
Following a thorough three-week evaluation process, Holland was approved for Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD), a legal option in Australia that allows terminally ill patients to self-administer life-ending medication.
"I think it's so weird to be happy, but I was so happy when I found out I was approved, I was crying," she recalled. "It's hard because for me I am in pain and then I am at peace, but then I put the pain onto my family."
Holland emphasized that choosing VAD isn't about giving up, but rather making a conscious decision after years of fighting. "It's one of the bravest things you could ever do, to say I want VAD. It's not giving up. You've had enough and you fought bloody hard."
