It was only through watching my mothers illness that I realised just how many cases there are where patients are cognisant of their pain and/or foreboding end with no option other than to wait, forced to do so by others against their will. Stop this from happening to someone you love. Sign this petition which calls to legalise assisted dying in situations such as these:

1) The patient is physically and mentally capable of making the decision to end his/her own life, and has expressed a wish to do so; AND

 
2) The patient has a terminal, chronic and disabling physical or mental illness which can be shown to cause him/her irreversible suffering should his/her life be forced to continue.

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My mother wished to go to Switzerland to go through with assisted dying during her terminal illness and was not able to travel due to her physically weak condition. Watching my mother suffer with her terminal illness has given me the understanding of how cruel it is to leave someone in such a permanent state of pain and waiting.

 
It is my belief that when someone is in such a situation and they can no longer look after themselves, can no longer walk, talk, eat, have the accessibility to carry out their most loved activities and essentially be free, that they are no longer living or a person in the entirety of the word. Ultimately, people should have the choice as to whether they want to continue in this life. As an onlooker of a loved one in this situation, I found it so painful to watch someone who had wanted to commit to assisted dying, and had to suffer in this way. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live this first hand.

If the patient is ultimately going to die and remember their last days as suffering and pain, a horrendous ordeal, why must they be forced to carry on? After filling out a DNR (do not resuscitate) form, refusing to go to hospital and finally rejecting antibiotics, my mum, like many other people, did all she could to control her final moments. Still she was left in a waiting room of pain and distress until her time finally came, all the while faced with the knowledge that she was slowly dying.

 
Whilst researching assisted dying I read that ‘to take one’s life is to take one’s soul’. But how can this be true if everything that defined a person’s life before and everything that they lived for has already been taken away from them without choice and their soul ultimately left a long time ago?

 
I urge people to research and decide how they feel about it, bearing in mind it could one day be you or a close family member who is left in this predicament and unable to do anything about it. Assisted dying is currently legal within a number of countries in Europe including Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Every year Dignitas (http://www.dignitas.ch/?lang=en helps people end their suffering with dignity, surrounded by their family members or loved ones. This is the only control they have left over an already uncontrollable situation.

Although it is extremely encouraging that there are countries that have legalised this process, why should people have to travel during a time of uncertainty and hardship to a different country, away from family, friends and familiarity? Let alone the punitive and unaffordable cost of doing so. If one must compare humans to animals, when animals become unwell and are in irreversible pain and illness, vets are able to end their lives as animals are unable to do so themselves. In the same way that animals are prevented from unnecessary and inhumane suffering, it seems rational that the same should apply to humans.

 
We could not help my mum with this kinder option. Please help us to provide it to others in the future and put pressure on Theresa May and the UK Government to join the progressive countries that have already legalised this form of assistance.

 
“We have no control over how we arrive in the world, but at the end of life we should have legal control over how we leave it.” - Sir Patrick Stewart, Campaigner for Dignity in Dying.

 
Please sign this petition.

 
Active campaigns:

https://www.yesuntiltheend.co.uk/
https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/support-us/take-action/
http://www.dadid.org.uk/our-campaign/
http://www.lifedeathchoice.org.uk/

 

News coverage:

The Guardian:  Assisted dying: how does it work in a Dutch end-of-life clinic?
The BBC: Assisted Dying Bill: MPs reject 'right to die' law
The Daily Mail: Debate on assisted suicide in Holland
The Economist: Campaigns to let doctors help suffering and terminally ill die are gathering momentum
The Guardian: Desmond Tutu: in favour of assisted dying

 

Useful websites:

Dignitas: http://www.dignitas.ch/?lang=en
Care: http://www.care.org.uk/our-causes/sanctity-life/euthanasia
Compassion in Dying: http://compassionindying.org.uk/making-decisions-and-planning-your-care/planning-ahead/advance-decisions-to-refuse-treatment-living-wills/
Difference between assisted dying and assisted suicide: http://www.dignityindying.org.uk/blog/assisted-dying-not-assisted-suicide/
What people close to death say about euthanasia and assisted suicide: a qualitative study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2563356/
Assisted dying bill: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2016-17/assisteddying.html