104-Year-Old Man Sings Beethoven the Day Before His Planned Assisted Suicide in Switzerland

(BASEL, Switzerland) — A 104-year-old Australian man who is set to take his life in Switzerland on Thursday cheerily sang a few bars of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as he told reporters that assisted suicide should be more widely available.

Scientist David Goodall has drawn headlines for his life-ending trip. Assisted suicide is legal and available to foreigners in Switzerland. Right-to-die activists are supporting his action.

Goodall said at a packed news conference on Wednesday that he expected to end his life the next day with some relatives on hand to say goodbye. He says he possibly will die by lethal injection, but that he would defer to doctors on the method.

While increasingly feeble and unable to live as he once did, Goodall is not sick. Some critics in Switzerland say assisted suicide should only be available to the terminally ill.