A 102-year-old former Marine slowly starved himself to death over eight weeks after being refused an assisted death. The family of Marine Commando Harry Moore say he died looking “like a skeleton” after saying he wanted to die following a third fall, then refusing to eat.
He begged his doctors for a “pill” to end it all. His family has described Harry's final days as “barbaric” and have called for the assisted dying ban to be overhauled.
Daughter Annie said: “He gave his all during the war. He deserved better. He should have had a choice at the end. He was determined. Absolutely adamant. He never ate anything – not even his chocolate biscuits.
“Halfway through he said he had forgotten what they looked like. He always had a sweet tooth. He was all for assisted dying. He said it was your choice. But he never joined Dignitas - it’s terribly expensive. And you have got to be able to travel.”
The veteran served in the convoys during World War Two and was later being overseas to Malta.
Harry pictured with his late wife (Image: Family Handout)
After leaving the military, he worked for the Ministry of Defence. His wife Rosina died in 1990. Aged 98, he moved into an annexe at his daughter and son-in-law’s home in Burgess Hill, West Sussex.
Annie and husband Bryan said watching the great-grandad-of-two starve to death was torture, reports The Mirror. Harry eventually lost the strength to speak before he died on June 21.
Bryan, 64, added: “From a man who was totally independent to a man like a skeleton lying in bed having to have all his bodily needs taken care of by somebody else – it was so degrading for him. That will stick with us forever.”
More than 200 million around the world already have access to an assisted death, including residents in Canada, New Zealand, parts of Australia, 11 US jurisdictions and parts of Europe.
A bill tabled in the House of Lords last year called for assisted dying to be legal for terminally ill, mentally competent adults.
Veteran Marine Commando Harry Moore (Image: Family Handout)
Annie and Bryan, supported by campaign group My Death, My Decision, want a Parliamentary inquiry into assisted dying. Bryan said: “We are supposed to be in a democracy where we have choices. It’s about how you live your life. How you want to run your life or end your life when the time comes. The choice is being taken away and it shouldn’t be.”
Nathan Stilwell, My Death, My Decision’s campaign manager, said: “How can anyone look a 102-year-old veteran in the eye and tell them they should not be allowed to die on their own terms? How can a compassionate society make people choose between starving themselves to death or going to Switzerland?
“Some 90% of the public support assisted dying. We need a compassionate assisted dying law today. We should do it for Harry. No family should have to go through what Bryan has gone through."
