Seven Dying Australians

The Strengths Cafe is an online publishing project sponsored by Innovative Resources.

find out more:

• view Seven Dying Australians on IR's shop site

Correspondence

I read the book Seven Dying Australians published by your organisation and am deeply touched by the seven accounts that the dying Australians have revealed. I'm a third year psychology student and am making some plans on my Honours project for next year. I have a deep interest in end-of-life care and especially looking at the psychosocial needs of dying patients, their caregivers, as well as health professionals. Hence, I find this book most enlightening and inspiring.

Best regards,

Soak Mun, Murdoch University

'These stories are not simply about death and loss but about the preciousness of life, the actual mechanics of meaning-making, and the practical inner workings of personal courage and hope.'

Professor Allan Kellehear

<<return to top

'These people are not fragile but strong enough to put their feelings into perspective, to think through and to anticipate their eventual deaths, and to attempt to provide a sense of meaning for others.'

Dr David Ritchie

Reviews of the Book

IAHPC BOOK REVIEW (International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care): Seven Dying Australians

This book brings a glimpse of seven individual lives-seven Australians facing the prospect of their own death. They were given a series of questions to ponder: How do you understand this time in your life? What surprised you about this situation and what didn't? What lessons do you feel you have learnt from this time? Knowing what you know now, what would tell others about the confrontation with mortality?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the narratives. They made me wonder just how much more the dying patients that I work with might have to tell me if only I could spend more time with them. And they reminded me that there is always room for improvement in the way we accommodate the needs of those facing death.

Anyone who works in hospice and palliative care will be richer for reading this little book.

Roger Woodruff
Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia (April 2004).

John Holton, 'Tales of courage and hope,' Bendigo Advertiser (undated clipping).

"Death is not a subject that we feel comfortable discussing.

In the western world, the topic of death and dying has traditionally been shied away from; something talked about in hushed tones for fear the children might hear.

Seven Dying Australians looks at this important part of all our lives in a most personal and meaningful way.

Edited by Allen Kellehear, Professor of Palliative Care at La Trobe University, and Dr. David Ritchie of Deakin University , the book is based on interviews with seven Australians facing death, who have had the courage to talk candidly about what it means to them.

Fadia, a 17-year-old who has battled cancer more than half her life, realises her time has finally run out. Her worst fear is knowing what her family and friends will go through after her death.

"I don't mind dying," she says. "What hurts most is knowing that they're going to be missing me. I just don't want to have 'that' bit."

Eighty-seven-year-old Marion is living out her life in a nursing home and trying to come to terms with institutional life after the freedom of her own home.

"When I close my eyes I'm 20. Nothing has changed inside; it's only the outside."

The strength of this book arises from a paradox; while the stories deal with death and dying, they are also full of life.

Sensitive editing has allowed the natural voices of these seven Australians to shine through.

For the reader the experience is like a chat at the kitchen table. It is an honest, colloquial style of story-telling, and uniquely Australian.

Seven Dying Australians is a book that explodes the myths about death. As 52-year-old Keith puts it: "All you can do is get on with life. It's not easy, but it's natural."

Ultimately these stories are not about death and loss, but about the preciousness of life."

Christopher Bantick, 'A matter of life before death,' Weekly Times, 30 June 2004.

"The cover of this book shows seven leaves from the Australian native red flowerig gum, all in various stages of decay.

Why? Because this book tells the stories of seven Australians facing death.

Among them is a 17-year-old girl with cancer, and 87-year-old disabled nursing home resident, a 68-year-old Aboriginal minister who has a heart triple bypass, a 41-year-old with brain tumours and a 73-year-old divorcee with heart problems.

What they say is courageous, edifying, deeply moving and humbling. Read this book and be prepared to change for the better.

Author Allan Kellehear, in a beautifully controlled and sensitive introduction, explains with great clarity the feelings he had when he became aware of his own mortality.

He asks the question that we all must face: 'Why is it that when we love and hope the most, these are also the times when we fear to lose the most? How often does good news prompt a subtle hear of bad news?'

There is an old saying that when things are going well, look out for the fly in the ointment.

In the Book of Job in the Bible, Job was a good man and yet trouble came. We all face death of loved ones and, in time, our own. How do we cope and what can we do about dealing with it?

The seven voices in this book show how they have come to terms with their approaching death. Perhaps inspiring is the wrong word to use about death. But the people in these pages inspire us to live life as never before."

Professor Margaret O'Connor, 'Book review: Seven Dying Australians,' Newsletter of Palliative Care Victoria, February 2004.

Kellehear's impressive range of publications has been ably added to with this new book, where seven people are interviewed about the prospect of approaching death. Some deaths are imminent, others living with the precariousness of chronic life-threatening illnesses like heart disease.

In perusing this book, what immediately grabbed me was that the narrative is written in the first person, which serves to make what is said very poignant. The narratives are varied; one person describing their experience of increasing frailty and dependence, necessitating admission to a nursing home; another the diagnosis of motor neurone disease; and another the influence of a death experience on her subsequent life.

There are a number of aspects that are common in these stories however. The sense of coping with what life has presented to each of these people and at some level accepting that, and getting on with life, is very much to the fore. That illness and its effects are very intertwined in the fabric of life, especially if it is a lengthy illness; and the awareness that within this journal, life is fragile and could end anytime. There is a focus in a number of stories of the burden created by dying person's coping with the way others cope with their illness. Humour had a place in the stories, as does a reflective sense of spirituality for many of the stories. What is also notable are the losses that people experience - one's home, possessions, independence or career - as life draws to a close.

The final part of this book contains a useful section for anyone who works with interviewing people. David Ritchie gives a personal account of his experience of undertaking these interviews. He speaks frankly of his discomfort in approaching people, but also about the richness of learning by listening to the stories of these people's lives.

This book is a testimony to the final phase of life and as Kellehear says, it puts words to what happens for people, in order to assist our community understanding and counter the collective fear of death.

Professor Margaret O'Connor, Monash University.

'Thought provoking - stories from Australians facing their mortality,' ACCNS Journal for Community Nurses, vol. 9, no. 3, December 2004, p. 20.

It is difficult to talk about death and dying at the best of times; it is even more so when faced with one's own impending death. Yet, Allan Kellehear and David Ritchie have managed to capture the stories of seven dying Australian that give the reader a glimpse of their individual lives as they face the prospect of their death. Their stories were collected through interviews carried out by Kellehear and Ritchie.

The book commences with a section by Kellehear on Facing the prospect of death, followed by the seven stories and ends with Ritchie writing on Listening and understanding. The seven Australians featured in the book are from different backgrounds and have different views. There are some useful Australian references at the end of the book. The book has attempted to represent a range of contemporary multicultural Australians and although the same is not randomly selected, there are commonalities expressed throughout. Some of the people whose stories are presented include Fadia, a 17-year-old high school student; Marion who is 87 and lives in a nursing home; Iain, an executive and Alexander, a Baptist minister and Indigenous Australian.

From the stories, lessons emerge: from the importance of talking openly, to the more practical ones of planning for the future, such as making a will and dealing with funeral arrangements. It is not a lengthy book at 130 pages. After the first story, the reader is drawn in, wanting to read the next. It is not a book that evokes sadness, although there is sadness, but rather it is thought provoking. This is an important book, particularly as it is a collection of stories told by ordinary Australians that give us a rare insight into a topic that few feel comfortable or even confident to talk about and therefore continue to remain ignorant about.

How people feel; and what they see as important when faced with the prospect of their own death is something many of us would like to know more about but are afraid to ask or may not know where or how to begin. This book gives us the opportunity to read the personal accounts of what death means to seven Australians and according to Kellehear, 'what it could mean to us'. The cover design by Jane Prideaux has been carefully chosen. It features seven leaves, from an Australian native gum tree, each one unique.

Dr Louise Peters, Research Officer, Nursing Palliative Care, Monash University, Peninsula Campus.

Bruce Elder, 'Seven Dying Australians,' The Sydney Morning Herald, Spectrum, 10 January 2004, 17.

Nobody buys a book on death and dying as an "impulse purchase". Books like this are for people needing to find solace and a shared humanity in the stories of others. To know that our experience is not unique can make the pain of death bearable. Allan Kellehear and David Ritchie have interviewed seven Australians. Some are dying. Some are living with dangerously unpredictable illnesses which may cause death. The stories are all painful, difficult and oh-so-human: a teenager who has grappled with cancer for years; a woman living in a nursing home and approaching death; a man dealing with HIV; an Aborigine dealing with a family history of heart disease; a 73-year-old with cancer; a person suffering from motor neurone disease; and a woman who recounts her near-death experience. This is not a book for everyone. There are people who know they need to read it.