Let us die in dignity – with a break for a fag on the way

Published: 19 May, 2011

• THE downside of medical science has now made longevity something of a curse in our society. 

Long before living wills become relevant, there is the continual fear of becoming a burden. 

We can’t all afford to go to Switzerland. 

In my own case, at 84, just getting to the airport – under my own steam – is a virtual impossibility (especially when unable to have a cigarette to relax during the inevitable waiting period.) 

The great deterrent of DIY (apart from the lonely furtiveness) is that there is no guarantee that you won’t find yourself in a hospital bed, having to “start all over again” possibly the worse off because of the method chosen. 

Safeguards there must be, of course, but motivated by that most beautiful word in the English language: compassion. 

We are constantly being told how much smokers and drinkers cost the NHS. Assisted suicide would amount to very considerable savings. What is the point of (to paraphrase Auberon Waugh) “wards and wards with old people... recognising no one... being turned three times a day like damp hay... (Crash the Ash, 1994)?

If Switzerland can do it, why not us? 

EILEEN EARNSHAW
Wells Court, Oriel Place, NW3