The Advertiser reporters Evangeline Polymeneas and Agnes Gichuhi win at News Awards

The Advertiser reporters Evangeline Polymeneas and Agnes Gichuhi were named winners in the News Awards for the heartbreaking story of young Adelaide woman Lily Thai.

The Advertiser reporters Evangeline Polymeneas and Agnes Gichuhi were last night named winners in the News Awards for the heartbreaking story of courageous young Adelaide woman Lily Thai, who used the state’s voluntary assisted dying laws to end her life on her terms.

The pair, who won in the Human-Interest Storytelling – State/National category, said: “We want to thank Lily, who in her final moments on earth decided to share her story with us when she could have been saying goodbye.”

Lily, who was 23 when she died in June, was diagnosed with Elhers-Danlos Syndrome when she was 17, then later auto-immune autonomic ganglionpathy. She bravely decided to release herself from unbearable pain.

Human Interest Story Telling State/National Award winners, Evangeline Polymeneas and Agnes Gichuhi. Picture: Richard Dobson

The pair, who won in the Human-Interest Storytelling – State/National category, said: “We want to thank Lily, who in her final moments on earth decided to share her story with us when she could have been saying goodbye.”

Other Advertiser journalists, including Douglas Smith, Emily Olle, Kathryn Bermingham, Gemma Jones, Jasper Leak, Dan Box and Mackintosh Kardon were nominated for the Dying Rose podcast.

Messenger reporter Dan Renfrey was nominated for Local/Regional Sport, with the Advertiser’s Brenton Edwards nominated for Photograph of the Year.