An Edinburgh mum is planning to end her life 12,000 miles away in Australia to escape a painful death from terminal cancer.
Jackie Roberts has shared how she is desperate to avoid spending her last few months in hospital after the 72-year-old was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer.
After watching her own parents suffer protracted and painful deaths from the disease, Jackie is hoping to travel to Sydney, where assisted dying is now legal.
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With laws on the procedure extremely strict in Scotland, the local mum has said she would take on the 12,000 mile journey to the Australian capital, where her son lives, to avoid a traumatic end to her life.
Speaking to the Record, Jackie explained how her own mother, Mabel, had passed from breast cancer, with her dad also tragically losing his life to prostate cancer.
Now being treated at the Western General, where her dad also received care, Jackie said: “He was in so much pain. I had to say to the staff – if it was your dad would you let him die like that? Then they increased his morphine. But I’m not criticising health professionals at all.
“I can’t say enough about my healthcare team at the Western who go above and beyond for me and in whom I have great confidence. They are better than the best. The care I’ve had and am still getting is excellent.
“If push came to shove, I would consider going to Australia to use their assisted dying law. It’s good to know it’s there, where my son is. But why can’t I have that choice at home in Scotland?”
Jackie, from Edinburgh, was one of 14,000 people to respond to a public consultation on MSP Liam McArthur’s members’ Bill on assisted dying at Holyrood – a record response.
Almost 80 per cent of respondents supported it. The Bill’s final proposal is being lodged at Holyrood today and could become law next year. Jackie’s mum tried to take her own life on two occasions, due to the pain caused by her cancer.
Jackie’s cancer was diagnosed more than 25 years ago but she was in remission from 1996. The cancer returned in June 2021 and she was given a terminal diagnosis just a couple of months later.
Jackie said: “I support Liam McArthur’s proposals and responded to the consultation. I can’t see why we don’t have it.
“I hope MSPs will listen to those of us who have seen family, friends, loved ones suffering in terrible circumstances. I am fully behind this Bill. I dream of it becoming law.”
McArthur thanked Jackie for having the courage to tell her story.
He said: “Jackie should have more choice available here in Scotland – she shouldn’t have to be considering travelling to another country to make sure her death when it comes is peaceful and free of pain.”
Ally Thomson, director of Dignity in Dying Scotland, added: “The current blanket ban on assisted dying creates heartache and injustice for so many families like Jackie’s. An injustice that can now be put right.”
His Bill – “Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland)” – is presented at Holyrood today. It needs the written support of at least 18 MSPs from two parties to proceed.
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