Cancer sufferer’s heartbreaking last words as she travels to Dignitas to end her life | UK | News


A heartbreaking video reveals the emotional words of one woman who travelled to Switzerland to end her life. Politicians have been left an emotional message by cancer sufferer Paola Marra before she left the UK to travel to Dignitas.

Paola Marra, 53, died at the clinic in Switzerland earlier this week. Before she travelled to Dignitas the former charity sector worker, who fought bowel and breast cancer, filmed a video message titled ‘The Last Request’ about why she was choosing assisted dying.

She said: “When you watch this, I will be dead. I’m choosing to seek assisted dying because I refuse to let terminal illness dictate the terms of my existence.

“The pain and suffering can become unbearable. It’s a slow erosion of dignity, the loss of independence, the stripping away of everything that makes life worth living.”

“Assisted dying is not about giving up. In fact, it’s about reclaiming control. It’s not about death. It’s about dignity. It’s about giving people the right to end their suffering on their own terms, with compassion and respect.”

At the end of the video, Paola called for change. She said: “So as you watch this, I am dead. But you watching this could help change the laws around assisted dying.”

Alongside the video, Paola sent an open letter to politicians in Westminster, The Mail reports. In the letter, she revealed she had had to travel to Switzerland alone because she didn’t want her loved ones to “get into trouble”.

Paola also highlighted the expense of a trip that puts assisted dying out of reach of those who can afford it. She explained: “And for so many dying people who can’t afford to pay an average of £15,000 to travel to Dignitas, this cruel law will force them to endure a painful death, or drive them to take their own lives.”

Before travelling to Switzerland, Canadian Paola worked with photographer Rankin on a photoshoot. He said: “I felt like I wanted to show somebody who wasn’t suicidal. She wasn’t depressed, she wasn’t unhappy, she wasn’t somebody that didn’t love her life.”

There has been greater pressure on the Government to change laws on assisted dying since Dame Esther Rantzen announced her intention to travel to Dignitas due to stage four lung cancer.

Earlier this month she secured a stunning victory after a Daily Express petition was signed by over 100,000 triggering a debate in the House of Commons. Ahead of the debate, she is urging people to write to their MPs to urge them to support a change in the law.

She wrote: “Even though the rules say a Westminster Hall debate cannot itself change the law, it is absolutely crucial that this debate takes place, that it is based on real evidence and that it is well attended and reported.

“We desperately need light rather than heat in this debate, far too often I have heard false claims made in an attempt to oppose any change in the law.”

With each move forward, there has been a greater sense that change could be about to come for the thousands of people who could benefit from the legalisation of assisted dying.

Dignity in Dying’s chief executive Sarah Wootton told the Express: “The dam is bursting because of the power of people’s experiences.

“Those who want to keep a lid on this are not going to be successful because they’re trying to hold back a tide that is going to win.

“It’s very, very clear that people don’t want to die badly. They want to be able to choose how they die.”



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