When Pat Malone gave evidence to the committee scrutinising my bill to give terminally ill adults choice at the end of their lives, his every word went to the heart of why the law has to change.
Pat’s father died a horrible death as a result of pancreatic cancer. He begged Pat to help him die, something he could not do. Assisting a suicide currently attracts a sentence of up to 14 years in jail. When Pat’s brother contracted the same disease he couldn’t bear the thought of suffering in the same way, so he took his own life. His wife held his hand as he did so. Both she and her daughter, who was also in the house at the time, were then subjected to a months-long police investigation. When Pat’s sister found she had motor neurone disease she was determined to go to Dignitas, and died alone, far from home, without her loved ones to support her.
