Scientist and grandmother Mary White was 92 years old when she died in her nursing home bed one cold winter’s night in 2018. From the outside, the talented palaeobotanist’s death appeared to be a natural end to a full and productive life. The curls of her youth had long been white, and her final moments were watched over by her loving daughter, Barbara Eckersley. But when her doctor was asked to sign the death certificate, he refused. Something wasn’t right.
Mary had lived actively on her Falls Forest eco-property on the mid-north coast of NSW until she was well into her 80s, when a heart attack and then a series of small, destructive strokes blunted her brilliant mind and left her paralysed down one side of her body. She was a charming, charismatic scientist and the author of intricate botanical books before vascular dementia robbed her of the power to communicate. By the end, her son-in-law Richard Eckersley says, she could no longer make herself understood. And she needed to be spoon-fed, which Barbara did. As hard as it was to see the mother she loved and admired incapacitated, Barbara came to the Warrigal nursing home in the Southern Highlands almost every day to sit by Mary’s side.
Yet, when Mary White’s heart stopped, her doctor was alarmed. Mary was not an end of life patient. As Mary’s family made preparations for her funeral, Dr Indran Rajendra called the coroner and ordered an autopsy. His instincts were correct. “Toxic to fatal” levels of the barbiturate pentobarbitone, known as ‘green dream’, were detected in Mary’s blood.
Mother-daughter bond
This story is from the July 2021 edition of The Australian Women's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 2021 edition of The Australian Women's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.