Health3 min(s) read
Published 12:55 08 Jun 2026 GMT
Annalise Holland, a 26-year-old from Adelaide, has revealed all the things she wants to do before she ends her own life through assisted dying.
The young woman has suffered from chronic illnesses since she was 12, and at 18, she was diagnosed with a rare condition called Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy (AAG).
AAG is a condition that causes the immune system to attack the autonomic nervous system. Although it is not always fatal, doctors told her that the damage to her body was severe.
Holland has not eaten a meal in ten years and survives entirely on total parenteral nutrition (TPN), fed directly into her bloodstream through the last viable vein in her chest.
Tragically, she told A Current Affair, “If this vein gets blocked, then basically there’s no way of giving me hydration or food… you basically starve to death.”
As she is aware that she will never reach old age, Annaliese has decided to end her own life through Australia’s voluntary assisted dying program (VAD).
Currently available in every state and territory in Australia except the Northern Territory, VAD is only accessible to people living with a condition that is likely to cause death within six to 12 months, as determined by two specially trained doctors.
Since being informed that she has less than a year to live, Annaliese has decided when exactly she will end her life, allowing her to leave this life with dignity and her loved ones surrounding her.
Despite her short life coming to an end, Holland is determined to live what she has left of it to the fullest, so she has written a “f*** it” list.
The list is a collection of experiences that she wants to have while she still can.
Already she has rented her own apartment, flown in a helicopter, watched a friend’s baby being born, and seen her dad’s face as she tried on a wedding dress.
Holland has made the decision to end her life in just a few months, but is very positive about her end-of-life care and has already chosen the date she wishes to die. However, she has decided not to reveal it publicly.
"The most important thing is protecting my family," she says.
She told the Hack podcast that deciding when to die “was a really happy thing,
"When you've been sick for such a long time, it becomes something that's not so scary.
"It sounds strange, but it's incredibly empowering," she added.
The Palliative care specialist and VAD practitioner who will guide Holland through saying her final goodbyes, Dr Chloe Furst, has hit back at people criticising the AAG sufferer’s choice to end her own life at such a young age.
She said to A Current Affair, “Why prolong suffering and have reduced dignity when we have an option that gives people that choice?”
Supporting Holland’s decision, she added that age should not undermine her choice, saying, “Annie’s suffering is no more or less than someone that’s 90.”
