Michelle Jones
SEAN DAVISON, the University of the Western Cape (UWC) professor who helped his terminally ill mother die in New Zealand, is looking forward to his return home this week. His five months of home detention in New Zealand came to an end last week.
Davison said yesterday that he would arrive at Cape Town International Airport on Wednesday, where his family would be waiting for him.
He pleaded guilty in the Dunedin High Court last year to a charge of procuring the suicide of his terminally ill mother in his native New Zealand in 2006.
The first thing he did upon his release was walk in the surf at Dunedin’s St Clair beach, reported New Zealand’s Otago Daily Times.
“I have no regrets about what I did to assist my mother to her death, because I did nothing wrong. I’ve done my sentence, but I committed no crime,” Davison said.
“In the same set of circumstances, I’d do exactly the same thing again, although I’d rather change the law so that nobody else has to go through what I have. I’m not bitter. But I think it’s very sad that the law finds me a criminal for an act of compassion,” he told the newspaper.
His partner, Raine Pan, said she and the couple’s two young sons, Flynn and Finnian, would be at the airport eagerly waiting his arrival.
“I mentioned to them that Papa is coming home. To them it doesn’t mean anything; they don’t know when tomorrow or the next day is. I don’t know how they will react,” she said.
Davison would be arriving home in time to celebrate younger son Finnian’s second birthday on Thursday, after missing out on several family milestones. “He missed out on 10 months. When he left, (Finnian) was 14 months; now he is nearly a two-year-old.”
Pan said she was looking forward to having Davison home to share the household chores.
“I’m very excited. Finally, all the responsibilities on my own are finished. I’m getting so excited. I’m very happy that it’s coming to an end. We will have a normal life soon.”
Asked what she most looked forward to about her partner’s return, Pan said: “To have him back, to have a man in the house. I don’t rely on him to do things but it is quite difficult to be a single mother.”
Pan added with a laugh: “There are a lot of things broken at home, things for him to fix.”
UWC, where Davison is a professor in its biotechnology department, has previously said it would welcome him back.
“We look forward to his return so that he can continue to produce cutting-edge DNA research. It has been a trying time for Professor Davison and his family.
“We are delighted that he can now be reunited with his loved ones and his UWC family,” said spokesman Luthando Tyhalibongo.