By Caitlyn Gribbin and Rachel Carbonell, ABC
Photo: Patrick Stone/ABC News
On the day Karen Duncan died, she arranged to take a limousine to hospital with her two adult daughters, her friends and her poodles to say goodbye.
Duncan, 55, who had an aggressive form of motor neurone disease (MND), was determined to donate her organs after ending her life via voluntary assisted dying (VAD).
Speaking to the ABC before her death, Duncan explained that she wanted to help others if she could.
"If I'm in a position to help people, it's just a given," Duncan said.
"I've always felt very, very strongly about it because if I can't utilise what I've got, I give it away."
Duncan was very matter-of-fact about her plan but became emotional when she explained why organ donation was important to her.
"It's never really left my mind β¦ I would hope that somebody [in a similar situation] would help my family," she said.
Donating organs after assisted dying is a relatively new practice in Australia and first occurred in 2023.
VAD is now legal everywhere in Australia except the Northern Territory, which announced on Friday it would introduce VAD legalisation by mid-2026.
According to state and territory health department data provided to the ABC, Vict
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