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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Harriet Sherwood

‘He was a skeleton’: Joan Ruddock says she considered ending dying husband’s life

Dame Joan Ruddock holds up her DBE medal outside Buckingham Palace with Frank Doran beside her
Joan Ruddock receiving a DBE at Buckingham Palace in 2012, with her husband, the former Labour MP Frank Doran. Photograph: Shutterstock

Dame Joan Ruddock, the former Labour MP, has described holding a pillow in her hands as she considered ending the life of her terminally ill husband who was in extreme pain.

In desperation, she called an out-of-hours GP service at night, telling them: “Either you come or I will end his life. I don’t know what the consequences are, but I will do it.”

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