“I love water; it relaxes me; it symbolizes life,” says the burly silver-haired director of West Gauteng Hospice. “I’d like to die with the sound of running water in my ears.”
Venter is dressed in a kaftan striped with turquoise, tan and mauve fabric. Crystals are tied to his wrists. Against a wall, a pile of fluffy toys teeters. Teddy bears, a stuffed lion, a monkey. Some of them belonged to Venter’s children. Children who are now dead. He held some of them before they died. His was the last face they saw.
Venter is a palliative care specialist. His patients have cancer, pulmonary diseases; cardiac disorders… “You name it; we have it here. We deal in death,” he laughs.
“We try to ease the emotional, physical and spiritual suffering of people who are terminally ill, or have incurable diseases,” he says. “Everyone has a right to a better-quality life in their final days. We acknowledge that the person is fully alive until they actually physically die.”
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