Esther Rantzen "too frail" to travel to Switzerland (Dignitas)

[ItWasnaMeGuv]

Hopefully a family member of friend will take her and she can get her wish.

The post wasn’t talking about IF assisted dying was legal in the UK. It was talking about the law NOW. Which is what is preventing a friend/family member of ER taking her to Switzerland.

If assisted dying becomes legal then presumably the current law that prohibits assisting a suicide will be removed from the statute books.

I dont know enough about this but is it likely someone at this stage would be able to travel if they were accompanied? I'm not sure what specifically makes them unable to other than obviously being in terrible pain.

If so that adds a whole other dimension to the argument because you'd have to be sure the person accompanying was there for the right reasons.

I saw this. My love to her, how sad.

Read the thread. Assisting a suicide is illegal and anyone accompanying her, or helping make the arrangements, could find themselves charged.

I watched a documentary on this recently and that was the same conundrum the poor guy found himself in. He didn’t want to go when he felt he had quality of life but, equally didn’t want to wait too long to the point he wouldn’t be able to physically get there etc… there is a fine timescale whereby he had to decide to go and what an awful situation

It's a rock and a hard.place. When you have some quality of life you want to carry on and then it's too late. Esther Rantzen is a brave lady and has the support of a loving, caring family. It's hard watching someone you love leave you. I wish Esther and her family everything they would wish for themselves.

I feel for people in Esthers situation, but there are too many OAP haters around, who think we cost too much and want us out of the way to reduce the welfare bill, so I oppose assist'd suicide.

Its so sad that people have to leave their country to die peacefully and with dignity and that their families can not legally help them and be there with them its cruel

Lets hope the decision is made by MP's today to allow people to die with dignity, peacefully with their loved ones around. Having experienced being with my Nanny when she died (naturally), in no pain, with family around her was a beautiful experience, I can't think of other words to use but it was so peaceful and the grieving is so different to when you see someone die suffering

I'm for assisted dying and want it if I don't just die naturally. I don't want to stay alive thanks to endless medication, drooling and incontinent just waiting for a massive heart attack to kill me. Once there's no quality of life what is the point?

I have a relative who should be dead but isn't 'thanks' to medical intervention. They have dementia, poor circulation, painful ulcers on their limbs, heart failure so they fall often and have a TIA or small heart attack about once a month but because they can eat and sit in a chair they are given antibiotics and other treatments. Meanwhile the family have to visit a skeleton who doesn't recognise them and I don't think any of us benefit from it. I don't want to be like that and I don't want my children (now adult) to have to endure it either.

It's not about wanting to kill all old people or all disabled people (as Tammy Gray-Thompson believes) but its about choice. We should be allowed to choose to end our lives without fear of prosecution.

Yes, this is why we need assisted dying in the UK. So that people can make that choice when the time is right. The House of Lords talked it out last time as it did get through the Commons. I hope this time it gets through both because I think that's what most people want.

I have read it. I know it’s currently illegal. I was just asking whether someone could potentially travel if it wasn’t if they were accompanied because I imagine having someone with you would make a huge difference both physically and emotionally. But equally could be taken advantage of.

Gran's heartbreaking final message before going to Swiss clinic to end her life - Yorkshire Live

Read this earlier today.

so sad. i hope she gets her wish.I just said a prayer for that for her.

i dont think anyone in parliament should be able to vote against assisted dying until theyve seen their own loved ones waiting to die. Once you’ve seen that you’d have more idea of what happens. It’s not a nice process for many. i hope i go peacefully in my sleep when i’m good and ready to go.

It's so obviously a typo, it's very clear what the poster meant so no need to be a dick about it

Agree 100% and your relative would no way have wanted to be in that situation for possibly years. Nobody would want it for themselves or a loved one.

The assisted dying bill was talked out by the House of Lords last time. The only people who benefit from the current situation are the owners of care homes who are making a lot of money. I wonder if members of the HoL have shares in some of the big companies who run this racket.

Many people who are against assisted dying have seen loved ones dying. Their views aren't just an absence of personal experience - they have a different opinion to you.

Everyone already has the option to decide for themselves, whether here or abroad. If Rantzen genuinely wanted to travel to Dignitas she would have done so rather than deliberately leave it too late. The bill rightly failed last time because of its total lack of safeguarding, it shouldn't be allowed parliamentary time again. You'd think there was nothing more important going on.

Exactly. Its not the thread to be dicky 😲

I'm honestly in 2 minds about this. I agree in principle but I feel it's open to so much abuse. I don't know how they can get around it 😕 😔

Yes, a person accompanying someone to Dignitas or Pegasos could find themselves interviewed by the police on their return to the UK. But as far as I'm aware, nobody has actually ever been charged or convicted of assisting a suicide.

Hard agree. Having just watched my mum die from terminal cancer, and having seen the incredible care and support she received from a hospice, I know how incredibly lucky she was to get that care because hospices are like gold dust. I dread to imagine how distressing those final weeks would have been for all of us if she’d been at home. Even with the best care, there can be much bigger delays in getting the correct medication when you’re not in a hospice or hospital environment.

I think it is inhumane that we allow people to suffer as they do in those final weeks and days, even with the best care. The fact that we allow people to suffer in this way in their final weeks with a terminal illness is obscene, in my opinion. To be fair, I have always thought that, but having experienced it firsthand, I am even more strongly in favour of people being able to choose.

I feel like I must reiterate that my mother received incredible care and medication to help her through every stage. But that does not mean that the person will not experience distress, it is that distress that leads to medication being given, and so on.

@Mauvish1
Anybody who takes her there will be facing potential criminal charges when they return to the UK, as assisting in assisted suicide is legal here.

I know that is true in theory, but has anyone who has accompanied a friend or relation to dignitas ever been charged?

The present system is open to abuse. Thousands of old people, who were once happy and useful, are languishing in 'care' homes, often for years, having lost capacity, unable to feed, wash or toilet themselves, with bedsores, serious medical conditions and possibly being bullied and mistreated or neglected by staff, especially in the lower cost 'care' homes.

If people want that for themselves, that's great. It's not something I want for myself. So I'm a supporter of Dignity In Dying who are trying to get the legislation changed so people can have a CHOICE. At the moment only the owners of the 'care' homes are benefitting.

That's very true. You are right. I hadn't thought about how the current system is open to abuse too 😔

I support AD as a choice, not because I've seen people die a horrible death but because I used tovwork in 'care' homes and seen how awful some of them are, especially at the lower end of the market.

The thought of dying doesn't bother me that much. But the thought of ending up in a lower cost 'care' home is really frightening.