Former Studio 54 nightclub owner Mark Fleischman has died by assisted suicide in Switzerland, his former business partner has announced.
The 82-year-old, who owned the legendary New York nightclub in the 1980s, took his life at the Dignitas clinic near Zurich, Switzerland on Wednesday after making the decision some time ago.
He first became ill in 2016 and was left unable to walk and do other things for himself. However, doctors were unable to diagnose his condition.
The former club owner's business partner Daniel Fitzgerald announced the news The Independent as he said: "I got a text from Mimi [his wife] this morning to say that he passed away bravely."
He added to BBC of his decision: "I guess he was in more pain than we knew."
Daniel, two co-owned the Century Club in Los Angeles with Mark, added how he had organised a "living wake" for the club owner in the hope he would put off the visit to Switzerland.
He said: "I thought maybe we could convince him not to.
"We had a really nice party for him and a lot of his friends came, and everyone thought, 'he's going to postpone it a month and we'll see what we can do'. But he was set on doing it."
Mark's business partner previously said of the event: "Everyone really had a good time, and we thought that he was going to stick around for a while, his brain was all there.
"We thought that he was going to postpone it for a month but then I guess he didn’t. He was very strong-minded."
The Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, where assisted dying is legal, has been open since 2002.
Mark took over from Studio 54's original co-owners after they were jailed for tax evasion.
The club was the hottest venue in the United States of America.
Mark had shared plans to die by assisted suicide two weeks ago.
He told the New York post he had spent $15,000 (around £12,000) on a one-way trip to Zurich.
Speaking of his health troubles, he said: "I can't walk, my speech is f**ked up and I can't do anything for myself.
"My wife helps me get into bed and I can't dress or put on my shoes. I am taking a gentle way out. It is the easiest way out for me."
Meanwhile, Mark's wife Mimi added of Mark's condition: "It is worse than not being able to walk. Mark doesn't have balance. He drops things and does not know where his body is in space.
"Doctors originally thought he had a form of Parkinson's. But it is not that. Nobody knows what he has."
Mark first fell ill in 2016. His condition couldn't be diagnosed by doctors.
He joins more than 1,000 people who have travelled to Zurich to die by assisted suicide since it was founded in 1998. Assisted suicide is illegal in 40 US states.
Speaking about the decision, Mark revealed: "I came to the decision slowly.
"Two years ago, I decided that it wasn’t worth living."
