A Lanarkshire woman called on MSPs to support a bill which would legalise assisted dying when she visited the Scottish Parliament this week.
Joanne Easton, a 42-year-old paralegal from Wishaw, recounted the suffering her terminally ill dad had to endure.
Robert Easton, a retired firefighter, died from pancreatic cancer on June 21, 2021 – a day before his 70th birthday. Before his death he had considered ways of taking his own life.
On the first anniversary of his death his daughter visited Holyrood urging the politicians to back Liam McArthur MSP’s proposals for assisted dying.
Joanne told Lanarkshire Live: “My dad just went yellow one day and went to the hospital for a scan and they discovered a tumour that was quite far advanced.
"It was in a really awkward part of his pancreas so that ruled out surgery. It was the worst of the worst, and we knew right from the start it didn’t look good. The hope was that chemo would give him a bit more time but it didn’t work out that way – it nearly killed him.”
Only around one in four people survive more than a year after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
Robert, from Hamilton, refused further chemotherapy and considered travelling to Switzerland where assisted dying is legal, but the cost, potential prosecution, and other issues ruled it out. He later opened up to Joanne that he had researched ways of taking his own life.
“Some of the methods my dad spoke about were brutal," Joanne admits. “Terminally ill people should not be forced into the woods with a length of rope. They should not need to jump in front of trains. They should not need to estimate the best type and quantity of drugs.”
Joanne and her sister Alison’s anguish was compounded by the Covid lockdown which further limited their time with their dad, and left their mum Mary shouldering much of the burden.
“I don’t know how my mum coped, she was so brave and so strong,” Joanne revealed.
“My dad was in mental anguish, as well as physical pain. All he wanted was to be able to make the choice to end his life at a time of his choosing, and without causing any further trauma to his family.”
Robert spent his final weeks in a hospice in East Kilbride after first being admitted to Hairmyres hospital.
“I didn’t think at the time that it was the end,” said Joanne. “He was so upset at the thought of dying in hospital.”
Two previous bills of a similar nature have gone before the Scottish Parliament. On both occasions they were voted down at the first stage. The bill needs the support of at least 65 MSPs and Joanne hopes that her dad’s story can have a positive impact on the vote this time around.
She said: “Going to the parliament was the best way to mark my dad’s anniversary.
“If assisted dying were an option, I wouldn’t have to be here talking about the suffering my dad endured.
“MSPs have the chance to rewrite the law and I hope they will hold my dad in their minds before casting their votes.
“It’s very specific. It’s for terminally ill, mentally competent people.
“The safeguards have been beefed up and I feel more confident that this time it will be successful.”
Assisted dying is already legal and available to residents in a number of American States as well as states in Australia, New Zealand and other countries.
“I read a report from Oregon that a lot of the people who have the pills don’t actually take them, Joanne added. “But it’s the security of having them and knowing that you have the control and that you don’t need to worry.”
Frances McFadden from Dignity in Dying Scotland said: “Joanne’s story is yet more evidence that the current law is not fit for purpose. It does not stop assisted dying happening but merely drives it behind closed doors, causing families like Joanne’s unnecessary and lasting trauma.
“Liam McArthur’s proposals offer a clear, safeguarded process that provides choice and protection for terminally ill Scots, based on decades of evidence from jurisdictions like the USA, Australia, and New Zealand.
"Families should not have their final memories of their loved ones stolen from them by a cruel and outdated law.”
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