Wife of firefighter, 54, who took his own life in a Swiss euthanasia clinic ...

The wife of an Australian firefighter who took his own life in a euthanasia clinic in Switzerland has revealed his final words.    

Christine Thornton said as she lay down next her husband Troy's side, he turned to face her, told her he loved her before finally saying: 'I'm going now'.   

Mr Thornton, 54, a firefighter from Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, died last Friday after travelling to Basel, Switzerland, with his wife of 17 years for the lethal injection.

He had battled multiple system atrophy, a rare progressive neurodegenerative disorder, which was slowly depleting his quality of life. 

Just hours before, the couple had spent four days alone together, sight-seeing around Basel, feasting on coffee and cheese around the Swiss Alps and even visiting the border so he could see France before he died. 

'Troy said to me it was a lovely way to spend the last day on this planet,' Ms Thornton, told The Age.   

Ms Thornton and her partner crowd-funded their trip to Europe, but their children were unable to come with them. 

'It was absolutely horrible (to say goodbye to their children). It was one of the most gut-wrenching, horrible things - we know they now remember him as a strong person,' she said.

A memorial service to remember Mr Thornton was due to be held in Mount Martha, a seaside town fronting Port Philip Bay, on Friday afternoon. 

'It was us, laying down on the bed together and I kept thinking, I have to tell him as much as I could possibly think to say. How much I loved him, and the kids loved him and how much I appreciate everything he's done for us,' Ms Thornton said.   

The rare disease had stolen his ability to do the things he loved, such as play with his kids, walk to the beach and surf. 

An avid lover of the outdoors, Mr Thornton chose to end his life last year before he was completely bed-bound.

Despite his plight, Victoria's new euthanasia laws do not consider his disease to be terminal, and therefore was forced to fly to Switzerland to carry out the last-resort procedure.           

Victoria will be the first Australian state to legalise euthanasia when the laws come into effect on June 19. 

Barbara Spencer, Mr Thorton's mother, said she hopes Australian politicians will take notice of her son's death, The Age reported. 

'There has to be something done about this,' she said.

'I hope this is his legacy... I will be proud of that and hopefully one day it will be passed and people won't have to travel.'

A broken Mr Thornton initially hoped to be euthanised in Australia and was banking on Victorian assisted dying laws to pull through.

In that way he would of at least had his dying wish respected: to be surrounded with family and loved ones. 

'My friend's dad, he was 85, died recently. He had his whole family there. They were watching footy and he died with them all around him. That's really nice, that's how you want to go out,' Mr Thornton said.  

Mr Thornton didn't qualify for Victoria's new laws as he could not find two doctors willing to say with absolute certainty that he would die

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