A Beautiful Film Death with Dignity Supporters Should See: Last Flight Home

Does it hurt? Will it be peaceful? Can my loved ones be there with me? How do I support my person on this journey? These are the questions that patients and families ask me about medical aid in dying.

I’ve been a social worker advocating for end-of-life issues for nearly a decade. While I can explain the laws, provide the technical information, and share indirect experiences from anecdotal accounts, I have never experienced the devastation of a terminal diagnosis myself.

That’s why storytelling is so important.

And this is why Ondi Timoner’s documentary, LAST FLIGHT HOME, is a monumental achievement. The film depicts Ondi’s family coming together to honor her father, Eli Timoner’s, wishes of using California’s End of Life Option Act. It’s a film about love, expressed during one of the hardest moments in life — death.

The moments that have continued to sit with me since watching this film were as the family embraced Eli in his final days — getting private space to say goodbye, to hear his last words of wisdom, and then to surround him so warmly as he took his final breaths. Aid in dying made the death her father wanted possible, and I am grateful Ondi’s film allowed us to bear witness to this deeply intimate time.

Ondi and her sister, Rabbi Rachel Timoner, continue to advocate for Death with Dignity. You can see their exclusive interview with Jodi Kantor of the New York Times here.

-Elia Lawatsch, Program Director & Social Worker, Death with Dignity