The family of Robert Walls has revealed how the footy icon convinced them voluntary assisted dying was the best option during his blood cancer fight.
Walls died on May 15 last year aged 74, on his own terms.
A four-time premiership winner with Carlton, including one as head coach, Walls was diagnosed with the rare and aggressive cancer acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2023.
He didn’t want to spend his final months suffering, so Walls began to explore other options.
Speaking one year on from his passing, Walls’ son David said his father always lived life his way.
‘He said to me, ‘I’m not going to get old and decrepit’. If there was an alternative [voluntary assisted dying], he would go down that path,’ he said
The family of footy great Robert Walls has revealed how he convinced them voluntary assisted dying was the best option during his fight with blood cancer
Robert Walls (pictured) was a true giant of the game after winning four premierships as a player and coach with Carlton
The footy legend was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in late 2023 and given only months to live
Walls was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame and also named in Carlton’s Team of the Century in 2000
Walls’ sister Annette also stated the footy legend ‘didn’t want his family to see what he was likely to go through’ as the cancer ravaged his body.
His wife Erin also passed away from lung cancer in 2006.
The Age reported that Walls consumed a lethal drink under Victoria’s assisted dying laws, with close friends made aware of his plans in advance of his passing.
Many took the opportunity to visit Walls in person, including former premiership-winning Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos plus his Carlton teammates Peter Jones and Geoff Southby.
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is a type of cancer that hits the blood and bone marrow, causing the production of too many young white blood cells, called lymphocytes.
‘Walls’ tenure as a player and coach across four clubs, and as a respected commentator across television, radio and print, spanned some six decades,’ the Carlton Blues said in a statement following his death.
‘But it was at Carlton that the AFL Life Member and Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee savoured his greatest individual and collective footballing moments.’
Once he finished coaching in 1999, Walls moved into the media, where he won acclaim for his work with Seven, Ten and Foxtel, in addition to writing for newspapers and starring on radio.
Walls had a reputation as a straight talker and hard taskmaster who took a no-nonsense approach to whipping his teams into shape.
His leadership during the Blues’ 1987 premiership season was made all the more impressive by the fact the team had to deal with the death of star Des English, who was diagnosed with leukaemia the year prior, and the career-ending car crash that almost killed Peter Motley.
