“By the time you see this, I will have died at Dignitas.”
Paola had to spend £15k to die alone in Switzerland. Sign her demand to party leaders:
“I resent that I don’t have a choice. I think it’s unfair and cruel.”
Paola had terminal bowel cancer. She knew she was facing a death filled with uncontrollable pain. She desperately wanted to choose a more peaceful, less painful way to go. But Britain's blanket ban on assisted dying robbed her of that choice in this country.
Before she left her loved ones behind to fly to Dignitas in Switzerland to die, Paola had left an important message for Westminster Party leaders urging them to listen to dying people like her, and bring forward a debate on assisted dying in the next Parliament.
Please sign Paola’s open letter and join us in urgently calling for a Parliamentary debate on assisted dying.
Dear Party Leaders,
My name is Paola, and I have terminal bowel cancer. By the time you read this, I will have died at Dignitas in Switzerland.
I had to leave my loved ones behind and fly alone to have an assisted death abroad, because the UK’s blanket ban on assisted dying would have forced me to suffer as I died.
I know what would have happened if I stayed in the UK – because death from terminal bowel cancer can be awful. I may end up with a burst bowel, which then leads to sepsis. I’ve seen it happen to other people and I know I don’t want to die like that. I’m very sensitive to certain drugs, and I am allergic to most opioids. And I know they won’t be able to control my pain, because it can’t be controlled now.
If assisted dying is legal, the end of my life would have been so different. I could have had more time with my friends and people who love me. But instead, I will have to go to Dignitas on my own because I don’t want them to be questioned by the police or get into trouble. So I will fly alone, and do it alone.
I resent that I don’t have a choice. I think it’s unfair and cruel. And for so many dying people who can’t afford to pay an average of £15,000 to travel to Dignitas, this cruel law will force them to endure a painful death, or drive them to take their own lives. Right now, 17 people a day will suffer as they die. This simply can’t continue. We need law change now.
Every parliamentary constituency in Great Britain now supports giving choice to dying people. Hundreds of millions people around the globe now have access to some form of assisted dying. It’s time that dying people in the UK get the right to choose a peaceful death, too.
As you prepare for the next General Election, I urge you to listen to the voices of dying people like me and bring forward a full debate on assisted dying in the next Parliament as a matter of urgency.
I have not lived to see law change – but there are thousands of dying people right now who are desperately waiting for a compassionate assisted dying law. My hope is that, by the one year anniversary of my death, there will have been real progress towards giving dying people the hope of a real choice here in the UK.
Thank you,
Paola, who died at Dignitas 20th March 2024
