Daughter of locked-in syndrome sufferer backs Assisted Dying Bill

Lauren Nicklinson, the daughter of Tony Nicklinson, who had locked-in syndrome and died in 2012 after fighting for the right to end his life, is backing the Assisted Dying Bill.

Assisted dying is when a terminally ill person who is mentally competent, takes prescribed medication which will end their life, of their own free will and with strict safeguards.

The new Bill would enable people to end their lives if they have no more than six months to live and show a ‘clear and settled intention’ to die. Assisted dying is currently illegal in the UK and anyone caught helping someone to die can be jailed for up to 14 years.

The controversial Bill drafted by Lord Falconer is due to be debated in the House of Commons on 11 September and will be the first time in nearly 20 years that the Commons has voted on the issue.

The Assisted Dying Bill was brought before the House of Lords by Lord Falconer but it ran out of time before the General Election.

However Labour MP Rob Marris, has put forward the proposed Bill in the House of Commons, saying: “The public are clearly in favour of a change in the law and it is right that Parliament now debates this issue. Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill won two key votes and showed there was clear support amongst peers for law change.”

Ms Nicklinson, who campaigned with her father for the legal right to end his life, is backing the Bill and told carehome.co.uk: “Although our legal battle has ended, we continue to back the campaigns made to legalise assisted dying, including Lord Faulkner’s Bill which will be presented to the High Court next month.”

She was forced to watch her formerly active father suffer from the horrific disease of locked-in syndrome, which resulted from a brain stem stroke while on a business trip to Athens in 2005.

He became paralysed from the neck down which left him unable to move or speak and campaigned for seven years for the right to end his life. He died in 2012 shortly after losing his High Court case to end his life.

His daughter Lauren revealed that her father had asked his family to help him appeal for an assisted death within six months of having the stroke. She said: “From the very outset our family agreed to support his decision to end his life. It did not come as a surprise to us and we knew that no matter how much we tried to persuade him, he wouldn’t change his mind.

“Before the stroke, my Dad was an outgoing business man and enjoyed a busy social life. Some people can adjust to live with their symptoms and are able to create a quality of life for themselves. Initially, my Dad agreed to try to do this and he did so for a few years, but he knew that he couldn’t carry on suffering with his condition; he had no quality of life.”

After spending two and a half years in hospital undergoing therapy, Mr Nicklinson returned home to be cared for by healthcare professionals, his wife and two children.

Commenting on the home care support the family received, Ms Nicklinson said: “The care services given to my dad and family were on the whole very good. We had home care workers attend to his personal needs every morning and afternoon, as well as a care worker who would stay each night.

“My mum particularly needed the help of a night care worker as my dad required round-the-clock care. But that didn’t come without a fight; we had to prove that we needed one.”

One British person every fortnight chooses to end their life at Dignitas

In some cases, individuals who are terminally ill or incurably suffering travel to Dignitas, an assisted dying association in Switzerland.

Statistics revealed by the charity Dignity in Dying, reveal that one British person every fortnight chooses to end their life at Dignitas.

Most recently, Bob Cole, a 68-year-old man chose to end his life at Dignitas, rather than suffer a cruel and degenerative death as a result of progressive supranuclear palsy, a fatal brain disease. Despite speaking very highly of the care he received, Mr Cole suggested that the journey to Switzerland was one borne of necessity rather than choice.

He said: “The law needs to change and politicians need to accept that the British public want this change. If they don’t it will be forced upon them because the public feeling is overwhelming.”

Dignity in Dying advocates that an assisted dying law would not result in increased deaths, rather it would lead to fewer people suffering, like Tony Nicklinson and Bob Cole.

Dignity in Dying has revealed that two million people will be aged 85 by 2020, with many facing complex illnesses and diseases. With this in mind, the charity has highlighted that in some cases the UK’s end of life care services do not alleviate the suffering that some individuals endure, a view which has been acknowledged by the National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) and The British Humanist Association (BHA).

Richy Thompson, campaign manager for BHA, said: “Where individuals are of sound mind but terminally ill or incurably suffering, offering them the option to have assistance to end their lives is the only compassionate choice, provided that it is their settled and uncoerced wish.”

Better palliative care should be provided

However, Scope – a national charity and Care Not Killing, a UK-based alliance of organisations that unifies human rights groups, healthcare providers, and faith-based bodies, argue that better palliative care should be given to people to prevent the need for assisted dying.

Dr Peter Saunders, director of Care Not Killing has suggested that if assisted dying is legalised, any 'safeguards' against abuse, such as limiting it to certain categories of people, will not work. Instead, once a 'right-to-die' is established, the UK will see an increase in activists applying pressure to expand the categories of people who qualify for it.

Mark Atkinson, chief executive of Scope, added: “Most people living with disabilities are concerned about a change in the law on assisted suicide, with many fearing it could lead to individuals being pressured into ending their lives prematurely.

“Rather than talking about how to make assisted dying possible for vulnerable people, perhaps we should spend more time thinking about how their lives have meaning.”

To vote on this controverisal subject please visit: http://www.homecare.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/47/Should-assisted-dying-be-legalised-in-the-UK

For more information on the progress of the reading of the Assisted Dying Bill, please visit: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/assisteddyingno2.html.