A man with Alzheimer's who stands ready to end his life on his own terms has supported calls for a law change over assisted dying made by a pensioner who killed his terminally-ill wife by cutting her throat. Alex Pandolfo, 68, said he wants to meet Graham Mansfield and 'shake his hand' for speaking out.
He argued the fact Mr Mansfield ended up in court was 'the fault of the law' and had euthanasia been legal, he could have sat with his wife of 40 years. After a hugely emotive criminal trial the 73-year-old was acquitted of the murder of his wife, Dyanne, in the back garden of their home in Hale, Trafford, but found guilty of her manslaughter.
He told jurors of a suicide pact they made after Mrs Mansfield, 71, had been diagnosed with stage four cancer. She had asked her husband to kill her when her illness got 'too bad', the court heard, as she didn't want to go into hospital.
READ MORE: Every harrowing word the judge told Graham Mansfield
Mr Mansfield, who tried but failed to then take his own life, told the Manchester Evening News after he was spared a prison sentence that he 'killed her with love' and called for assisted dying to be legalised, saying the country would be a better place for it and others would be spared the ordeal they went through.
Alex Pandolfo, from Miles Platting, Manchester, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia which remains incurable and life-limiting, in March 2017.
He said doctors at the time said he might live for 11 years but after four, his condition could degenerate with more severe symptoms. Manchester City fan Mr Pandolfo signed himself up for an 'assisted voluntary death' in Switzerland - a programme to which he still belongs.
"My view of the case is - the first thing I would say is that in the eyes of the law he committed a crime," he told the Manchester Evening News as Mr Mansfield recovered from his court ordeal at home. "But it was an act of love. It was not an act of violence. It must have been incredibly difficult and distressing to do that to someone you love. It's almost unthinkable.
"Legally, it was a criminal act but morally, it was an act of love. Politicians have failed to adhere to the population who want a change in the law - politicians are standing idly by while people suffer.
"Tell me what is life? For me, life is not the fact that you have a pulse and a heartbeat. Life is about what you can do and what you can enjoy. I would love to meet up with Mr Mansfield and shake his hand. I back every word he said about a change in the law.
"I do not see him as a criminal. It was an act of love - and act of compassion. The fact that he ended up in court is the fault of the law. At one point in time women couldn't vote and in many senses assisted dying is one of the last taboos.
"But things and social issues that were wrong have been corrected through legislation and that is what needs to happen here. If the law was different, Mr Mansfield could have sat with his wife. He could have held her hand.
"He would not have had to cut her throat in the garden - which is a truly horrendous thing to do to someone you love. How difficult must that be? Basically, I would say he was forced into that position because there is nothing else."
Assisted suicide remains a criminal offence in the UK, carrying a maximum jail sentence of 14 years. Mr Pandolfo - who cared for his father for five years as his life was destroyed by vascular dementia - said cognitively, there has been no serious deterioration in his condition.
But he knows that the cruel disease will eventually leave him dependent on others and struggling to recognise everyday objects, surroundings or those close to him, together with physical deterioration. "There was no way I wanted to face what my dad went through," said Mr Pandolfo, who pays an annual subscription to the programme in Switzerland and credits signing up to it with actually improving his condition and quality of life.
"I had the skills and the money to do it. I got the green light. If I had not got that green light there is no way we would be speaking today because I would have committed suicide. I would have been dead in 2018. It saved my life. The majority of people who get accepted do not go through with it.
"My quality of life has improved. When I got the diagnosis, all I could think of was planning my death. I knew how much it would take to overdose on heroin."
Under Swiss law, patients with dementia are permitted to take their own lives as long as they can prove 'capacity' to make the decision.
If their symptoms have progressed too far, the clinic will refuse to assist the suicide. Mr Pandolfo, who campaigns on the issue and offers support to those considering Switzerland, said he would need a psychiatric assessment here in the UK to prove he has capacity before any trip to the country.
"When I got the green light I stopped think about how I would die and when I would die and focused on living," he said. "If I went downhill and there was a problem, I would go.
"I believe that any person over the age of 18 in this country who has got either a terminal illness or a long-term degenerative condition that cannot be either treated or cured, that affects their living, should have the right to an assisted death. In Canada it's called MAID - medical assistance in dying. People there have options in terms of their death.
"I think we should adopt a system similar to that of Canada. Mr Mansfield was forced into a situation because there was nothing else."
The Assisted Dying Bill was rejected by MPs in 2015, but the issue was debated in the Commons earlier this month.
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