An East Hampshire man has spoken out in support of assisted dying after witnessing his twin brother’s final days.

Rob and Adrian Good were born on May 9, 1947, and grew up in Kent.

Rob, who lives in Bentworth, near Alton, said: “We were very similar in our younger days, but he chose to go to Australia with his wife Paula on the £10 scheme when he was 20 or 21. Six weeks later they were on a boat and he became an all-Australian, complete with accent.”

Adrian went on to run Australia’s largest osteopathic clinic, while Rob, after completing a science and engineering degree, became a barrister.

By 2020, Rob, was living with his quilt-maker partner Penny Peters in Guildford, while Adrian and Paula, who had two children and four grandchildren, remained in Australia.

Rob, 78, said of Adrian: “He had a strong personality and was a family man - his children and grandchildren loved him. And he was a party animal.”

Adrian was diagnosed with the blood cancer myelofibrosis in 2016. He was given six months to live but a new drug called ruxolitinib gave him three more years of good health.

But there was a 10 to 20 percent chance that myelofibrosis could turn into acute myeloid leukaemia, which it did in March 2020. At the same time, a persistent cough was diagnosed as an insidious pneumonia which scarred his lungs.

Adrian was admitted to Cabrini Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria, on June 23, 2020, and two days later, after hearing his prognosis, he emailed his two brothers and three sisters to say: “I’ve decided to switch the machines off with the help of morphine. My family has a like mind and will be with me.”

At the time, Victoria was the only part of Australia allowing assisted dying.

The state’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 came into effect in 2019. It was legal throughout the country by November 2025.

In the Scottish parliament, the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill was rejected on March 17 by 69 votes to 57, with opponents fearing people would be coerced into an assisted death. In Westminster, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is at the House of Lords committee stage.

Adrian chose assisted dying at 8.30pm on June 25, 2020, saying he had enjoyed a “wonderful second life” thanks to ruxolitinib, and the morphine infusion began at 9pm.

He insisted on having a party, sitting laughing and joking — surrounded by his immediate family, clutching Champagne glasses at his bedside — until he died at 12.08am on June 26, aged 73.

Adrian had phoned Rob to tell him his decision. Rob said: “Apart from being taken by surprise, probably my first reaction was ‘good for you, why not?’. You haven’t got long to live anyway, so go out with a party.

“That was him all over. He was absolutely the life and soul. A party wasn’t complete without Adrian.”

Rob, who moved to Bentworth with Penny in 2021, said he supported assisted dying and explained why he had spoken out now.

He said: “It was because of the articles in the press about assisted dying being rejected in Scotland. I wrote a comment on an article in the Independent and it was re-used in a different article. It dawned on me that it might be worth sharing this more widely.

“I don’t give very much credence to fears that people will be pressurised into it. I come from a medical background and my parents didn’t believe in prolonging life needlessly. I think it’s a sensible option if you’re brave enough to take that decision.”