Whether that's one to one or in a group
Our Mission & Values
We aim to connect people in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand, who have had someone close undergo the VAD journey. By sharing stories and feelings, each person can give and receive the understanding and support to help move forward in bereavement.
Here you can find someone to lean on.
About Us
Close friends and family of the person undertaking the VAD journey can face unique challenges. We recognise that someone with first-hand experience of these challenges may be best placed to offer understanding and support to others confronting similar challenges.
We’re here for you to lean on.
Get the Support You Need
We extend one-on-one peer assistance as well as group support to individuals who are aiding someone in their decision regarding VAD or coping with the aftermath of a VAD-related loss.
To seek our support, kindly complete the form, and we will link you with someone you can lean on.
Mum was one of South Australia’s first people to undergo VAD. She had worked previously in Medical Ethics at Flinders Medical Centre and was following the path of the legislation very closely.
She was experiencing progressive heart failure and earlier this year she was told that her heart would only last another six months at the most, and she was getting progressively weaker. The day it became legal, January 31, she applied.
Mum didn’t want to die at home and went into Laurel Hospice on May 25, and on May 26 at 3.20pm she fell asleep, surrounded by family and love.
Before and after this I wish I had known there were other people available that I could have talked to – people with lived experience who would completely understand what I was going through. Pre-grieving and then grieving the loss afterwards was difficult and unusual.
This is why I decided to set up this Project, in order to support other people going through this and hopefully to make their journey through VAD is a little easier.
This is for mum.
