Dame Esther Rantzen has done the country yet another service in raising the issue of assisted dying again (Esther Rantzen ‘considering assisted dying’ if cancer treatment fails, 19 December). As someone who experiences the “intolerable suffering” of a prolonged incurable disease, I believe we should be far less scared of talking about the taboo subject of dying.
I well remember the day when, after a year of tests, the consultant confirmed that I had “a motor neurone disorder”. I knew what that meant, as it was the year that Diane Pretty’s case to allow her husband to help her take her own life, because she had motor neurone disease, was hitting the headlines. I asked the doctor how long he thought I had left. “Everyone’s different. Let’s wait and see.” The prospects seemed bleak. I anticipated one last Christmas with my family.
