A healthy but heartbroken mother’s moving account of her decision to end her life at a Swiss clinic this week has triggered an emotional reaction from both sides of the debate over assisted dying in the UK.
Wendy Duffy, 56, is physically healthy and of sound mind – but so devastated by the loss of her only child in a tragic accident that she has decided to take her own life at the controversial Pegasos ‘suicide clinic’ this week.
She told the Mail: ‘I want to die, and that’s what I’m going to do. My life; my choice.’
It comes as assisted dying legislation is expected to fall as the House of Lords runs out of time on Friday to conclude its debates on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Wendy shared her story because she says she wants to draw attention to the ‘unfairness’ of the current system on her family.
She has already tried to take her own life, and failed, and has now informed her family of her decision (she has four sisters and two brothers).
But she did not inform them of the timescale for their own protection – if anyone travelled with her, or assisted her suicide in any way, they would risk police investigation, if not prosecution in the UK.
Wendy Duffy, 56, is physically healthy and of sound mind – but has decided to take her own life at a controversial ‘suicide clinic’
Wendy’s suffering has been deemed sufficient to meet the Pegasos criteria. A panel of experts, including psychiatrists, has passed her application after months of assessment and having had access to her full medical records.
Under Swiss law, it is forbidden to profit from assisted death, and Pegasos is a non-profit organisation. Clients fund the medication, pay for the doctors (there is a rule that they cannot earn more than they would in, say, a hospital), and the funeral costs.
A portion also goes to the Swiss state. Growing concern over taxpayers forking out for ‘death tourism’ has led to an agreement between the clinics and the authorities, so that the police and coroner charges – routine in any death – are met by the clinics.
Pegasos insists that the application process is rigorous. Even within Swiss law, founder Ruedi Habegger told the Daily Mail, ‘there is a red line that we cannot cross, otherwise it is not assisted suicide; you could actually call it murder’.
Wendy is not the first British person to travel to the Pegasos clinic, but no one has spoken so publicly before.
Those who oppose any change to assisted dying law in the UK have long argued that if terminally ill people are given the ‘right’ to die, under any circumstances, then it won’t be long before those who are not nearing the end of life will demand the same right.
Alistair Thompson, Care Not Killing’s spokesperson, told the Daily Mail: ‘This is a tragic case that highlights the real dangers of legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia.
‘In recent years, we have seen people with diabetes, eating disorders and even those losing their looks to have applied to have their life ended under assisted dying legislation.
‘This is why we argue there is no safe system anywhere in the world and why the House of Lords looks set to reject the assisted dying bill this week in Parliament.
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She was so devastated by the loss of her only son that she decided to go through the application process to be considered for assisted dying in Switzerland
‘What we should be doing is concentrating on good palliative care rather than condoning the deaths of people who are clearly suffering in different ways.
‘We’ve seen cases where people are heartbroken in the past. In Canada we’ve seen a case where a man was applying for an assisted death because he was made homeless, there are many similar tragic cases.
‘That is the problem. Once you legalise assisted killing, it is only a matter of who is eligible, when they are eligible, and you end up with tragic and heartbreaking cases like this.’
Labour MP Rachel Maskell, who voted against assisted dying, said: ‘Complex grief needs to be far better understood and supported.
‘Nothing could be more tragic than losing your own child in unexpected circumstances, but Wendy’s story highlights why far more needs to be invested into trauma management; the answer is not ending your own life.
‘Investment in trauma-informed approaches to grief is crucial, while for those with enduring mental health challenges, services must rapidly improve.
‘However, I believe we have a further duty – the Pegasos clinic in Switzerland should cause us alarm and we, as a Parliament, must explore ways of protecting people from using their ‘services’ if we are to protect people at their most vulnerable state.’
Protests were held outside parliament yesterday by assisted dying supporters, with Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter saying she was ‘furious’ with the House of Lords, after accusing it of blocking the vote by ‘democratic vandalism’.
Rebecca Wilcox said: ‘This delay, this lack of a vote, this lack of choice has a real human cost.
‘It’s really a sea of warmth and pink and smiling and loveliness here today, but I can’t help feeling unbelievably furious that we are here again when we should be celebrating a vote.’
Dame Esther, 85, has been a leading voice of support for assisted dying since her own diagnosis with terminal lung cancer in 2023, but was not able to attend the protest herself, instead receiving palliative care.
Kim Leadbeater, the MP who first proposed the legislation to Parliament in October 2024 as a Private Members’ Bill, told protesters that it was ‘wrong, democratically and morally, that the House of Lords have talked the Bill out and allowed it to fall’.
Those opposed to assisted dying have been accused of using ‘procedural tactics’ to block the Bill after more than 1,000 amendments were tabled in the upper chamber.
The Bill has twice been passed through the Commons, although it was with a narrower majority the second time round.
For the existing Bill to become law, it needed to clear further revising stages in the Lords by Friday for both Houses to agree on its final wording to be written in to the statute book.
Broadcaster Prue Leith, who also attended the protest, said she was ‘indignant’ and said what the House of Lords had ‘done’ was ‘criminal’.
She told Sky News: ‘What’s happened is a handful of Lords, five or six of them, produced over a thousand amendments which is more amendments than any bill has ever had in parliament and some of them are complete nonsense. They’re just there to make sure the Bill runs out of time.
‘What the Lords have done have even got people on their side say ‘that’s not right’ and so I think we will come back with more support.’
Supporters of the Bill have claimed there are ‘loads’ of backbench MPs who are willing to revive the legislation after the next parliamentary session begins on May 13.
A study last year revealed that three-quarters of Brits supported assisted dying, with more than half saying they would themselves consider travelling to Switzerland for an assisted death if they were terminally ill.
Read Wendy Duffy’s full exclusive interview with the Mail, where she explains in heart-rending detail the reasoning behind her decision that was a year in the planning, here.
– For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit www.thecalmzone.net/get-support
