Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Harriet Sherwood

‘We need more compassion’: UK families call for assisted dying reform

Young man in selfie-style pick beside older man in bed
Gareth Ward with his father, Norman. Photograph: Dignity in Dying

According to his son, for the 10 years after Norman Ward was diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 60, “you wouldn’t have known he was unwell”. But eventually, the cancer “spread everywhere”. Then he had a stroke.

“It was all going wrong,” said Gareth Ward of his father. “He had been very independent. As long as he could go down the pub and walk his dog, he was happy. But he was in an awful lot of pain for a long time. He got thinner and weaker, and he had to take morphine all the time. He looked like he was already dead, and no one had told him.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.