A wife has bravely opened up about the precious last moments she spent with her husband before his “beautiful death” at Dignitas.
Louise Shackleton accompanied her husband, Andrew, to the assisted dying clinic in Switzerland back in December, and was there with him at the very end. Andrew, 59, suffered from motor neurone disease (MND), a progressive and incurable neurological disorder that causes worsening muscle weakness and eventual paralysis.
After being told he had just two years to live, Andrew feared dying painfully, from suffocation, chest infection or choking. He believed making the journey to Dignitas would be his best chance at ending his life peacefully, and Louise supported his decision.
Louise, 58, is currently under police investigation after returning to the UK, having turned herself in to the police immediately. She remains determined to share her story, in accordance with Andrew’s final wish.
Speaking previously with the Mirror, for the first time since Andrew’s death, Louise recalled the request Andrew made of her during their last evening meal together, which has left her determined not to let his death “be in vain”. Louise, from North Yorkshire, remembered: “The night before he died, we were sat having a meal and he told me: ‘I need you to fight for other people. I need you to tell my story because I shouldn’t have to do this’.”
The following day, dad-of-three Andrew looked ahead to his death with “absolute peace”. Louise said: “What was incomprehensible to me was he was looking forward to going to the Blue House at Dignatas. That he was looking forward to dying!
“When we arrived we were greeted by three people, who were very knowledgeable, explained everything that was going to happen. My husband was given an anti-sickness medication. And we then spent a peaceful hour outside. The Blue House overlooks the Alps and has beautiful green fields in front of it. Twisting up outside the front bit is a very old wisteria tree. I’ve got some of the seeds here because they let me take some seed pods home with me.
“We spent an hour in the sunshine together, talking. And I couldn’t believe how relaxed he was. It was amazing, honestly, because as humans we have this fear of dying and of watching death. But he made it all so comfortable. He was at absolute peace.”
She continued: “And as we stopped there, he turned and looked at me and said, ‘It’s time’. My heart broke as I pushed his wheelchair into the building, knowing these were the last few moments I would spend with him. He was asked for the last time ‘whether he was sure that this is what he wanted to do’. And that once he’d taken the medication, he’d fall asleep, and he wouldn’t wake up.
“He smiled at them and he said, ‘What do you think I’m here for? Let’s do this! He was laughing when he said it and smiled again. As I lifted him up to the bed, I lay beside him, my husband administered the medication himself by swallowing. I couldn’t look at him doing that. I turned away.
“I wrapped my arms around him, and within minutes, he was becoming heavy in my arms. We were talking. And he said ‘I feel sleepy’. I held him tighter, and he gave a little snore. And we always had a joke about him snoring. So I said to him, ‘I can’t believe you’re snoring’. And he laughed and gently slipped away. It was a beautiful death.
“I knew that he was going, I could feel his weight on me. I lay there with him for about half an hour. I was laying with his dead body on the phone, booking an Uber.“
This follows the postponement of the next debate on the assisted dying bill to allow MPS more time to consider their positions following controversy over amendments and wait for the Government’s impact statement, which is expected after Easter.
Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, said: “Louise and Anthony’s experience is proof that the blanket ban on assisted dying is failing dying people and their loved ones.
“That British membership of Dignitas has risen more than 50% in the last five years shows there is a demand for choice that is only increasing. For those who cannot afford the £15,000 this costs, some are left to suffer as they die, despite good care, or to take matters into their own hands.
“…When MPs and MSPs come to cast their votes in the coming weeks, they must remember people like Louise and Anthony and the thousands of others who have been let down by the blanket ban, who are depending on them to change this law.”
Meanwhile, offering a different perspective, Chief executive of Care Not Killing, Dr Gordon Macdonald, an alliance that opposes assisted suicide, stared: “These are very sad cases and there are lots of people who every day face death and/or face the death of relatives in hospices and hospitals around the UK.
“And so we do need to look at how we help people have peaceful and dignified deaths but the way to do that is by properly funding palliative care in this country at the moment a third of palliative care funding comes from the NHS. A quarter of the people with cancer don’t get the palliative care they need.”
In regards to Louise’s case, a North Yorkshire Police spokesman stated: “The investigation is ongoing. There is nothing further to add at this stage.”
Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com
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