'The way my dad suffered was inhuman - assisted dying law must be changed'
Shortly after this picture was taken, Angela Barrett drank a life-ending medication and passed away at Dignitas, aged 65.
For her husband of 36 years, Greg, her final moments were peaceful, relaxed and comfortable after two years of decline from a neurological disease. It was a world away from his father’s drawn-out death a few months later. Looking at the final pictures of Angela at the right to die organisation in Switzerland, he said: “They just say it all. They really do. She looked happy.”
The last photo of dad Kenneth, 96, who had vascular dementia and looked like a “living skeleton”, is too distressing for him to share. Now Greg, of Uttoxeter, Staffs, is calling for Britain’s assisted suicide laws to change. Mum-of-two Angela had always been “like a Duracell battery, she didn’t stop”.
But when she began struggling with her balance and suffering falls in 2020, she was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, which sees parts of the brain degenerate. She was told she faced a slow, unstoppable decline and death. After reading about assisted dying, including the story of Dawn Voice-Cooper’s assisted death in Switzerland, she considered her options.
Greg Barrett (STEVE ALLEN)
Greg's father Kenneth (STEVE ALLEN)“She realised that there was another option to choking to death or dying of pneumonia,” Greg, 67, said. Over the following year, her mobility, vision and her ability to swallow gradually declined. In April 2021, she tried to take her own life. Greg said: “She got through but it had made things worse. Her swallowing was worse, she couldn’t walk.
Assisted dying volunteer would 'do it again' after going with woman to end life
“That was the end of her independent mobility. She didn’t want to be lying in a hospital bed with tubes in and out. So we embarked on the journey to Dignitas.” The application was complex, as they provided medical records, letters from doctors and a psychological assessment.
Her two adult sons, who are police officers, could not be with their mum. One was told he would lose his job and face prosecution. On her final morning near Zurich on July 14 last year, Angela washed her hair, put in her own earrings and did her own makeup – things she had not been able to do for a long time. “She just had this burst of energy,” added Greg.
Describing the moments after she drank the life-ending medication, he added: “She snuggled into her pillows and said ‘I am going to go to sleep now’. I was holding her hand and I felt her relax. It was so peaceful and so quiet. It was on her own terms. She was in control.” Greg, a retired materials engineer, was interviewed by police but faced no further action.
Shortly afterwards, his dad, who had vascular dementia, went into hospital after a fall. As he struggled, Kenneth begged him “why can’t they just let me go, I’m half dead already.” He died ten days later, aged 96, after weeks in hospital. Greg said: “For him to suffer like he did was inhuman. It upset me more than what happened to Ange.”
Assisting a suicide is punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Campaign group Care Not Killing said: “Any change in the law would place pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives for fear of being a burden. This would especially affect people who are disabled, elderly, sick or depressed.”
Nathan Stilwell, Campaigns Manager at My Death, My Decision said: "The difference between Angela's death and Kenneth's death couldn't be more stark. How much longer must we keep exporting compassion to Switzerland, while others suffer unnecessarily painful and draw out deaths at home? People who are suffering from incurable diseases deserve the right to end their lives on their own terms. The UK should stop this unnecessary suffering today."
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