Adelaide man Justin Campbell says voluntary assisted dying may be last choice if Mexico chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy treatment fails
Justin Campbell is currently awaiting treatment in Mexico. If it succeeds, he could go to Cambridge. If it fails, he says euthanasia may be his only option.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Justin Campbell will study at Cambridge University if treatment for his auto-immune condition is successful.
However, if the treatment, which he is undertaking in Mexico, fails, he said he will consider accessing voluntary assisted dying to end his life.
“I don’t have the strength to last four decades of this,” the 37-year-old said.
“I’ve talked to my parents, it’s one of their children talking about potentially ending their life because their quality of life is so diminished that there’s not really much point in hanging around.
“It’s been pretty difficult and stressful for everybody.
“These sorts of conditions always have a ripple effect, it’s never just about the person with the condition itself, it’s everybody around them too.”
Diagnosed with a complex and aggressive neurodegenerative condition called chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (‘CIDP’), Mr Campbell’s disorder means his body’s immune system attacks the nerve cells around the brain and spinal cord, leaving him to lose control of his mental function and physical body.
What began as tingling in his forearms in early September 2024 turned into debilitating pain two weeks later, leading him to take leave from his full-time job with the NDIA.
“The sensations were changing but it was always fairly excruciating,” the Aldgate man said.
“Sometimes it felt like I had a million ants crawling under my skin or other times it was like someone was rubbing sandpaper all over my skin … other times it was a burning sensation.”
Mr Campbell said the condition may have been triggered after a knee surgery.
Eventually, Mr Campbell passed out from the pain and was rushed to hospital. Despite undergoing tests, they couldn’t discover what was wrong.
“The hospital said, ‘you’re not going to find any answers here, you should probably go see someone’,” Mr Campbell said.
In a strange twist of fate, while at a suit fitting, the man fitting him connected him with high-profile neurosurgeon Charlie Teo.
“Somehow I got invited to a pre-event evening with Charlie and he sat down with me for 20 minutes and just quizzed me quite extensively on my symptoms,” Mr Campbell said.
Eventually Dr Teo referred Mr Campbell to a colleague who diagnosed him with CIDP on December 7.
She told Mr Campbell that treatment for CIDP is not as successful in Australia and he would have better luck travelling overseas.
“I’d never faced anything like this before and neither had anybody that I cared about,” he said.
Currently, Mr Campbell is in Mexico at the Sanoviv Medical Institute preparing physically and mentally to receive treatment for CIDP.
With hope to beat the condition, Mr Campbell said if feels 80 per cent well he will go to study psychological and behavioural sciences at Cambridge University in October of this year.
“I still can’t believe it, it was an unreal moment when I read the offer letter,” he said.
If you want to donate to Mr Campbell you can here.
More Coverage
Originally published as Adelaide man Justin Campbell says voluntary assisted dying may be last choice if Mexico chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy treatment fails
Major win for methed-up Finks bikie who went on bender
Facing arrest, this Finks bikie decided to “enjoy” himself when he scored more drugs than he expected – now he’s back in court arguing for more freedom.
‘Really over the moon’: Radio star announces pregnancy live on air
Experienced journalist Stacey Lee has revealed she and her husband Ben Millar are expecting their first child – meaning there will be a change in faces at FIVEAA.