Swiss clinic helps grieving mum to die in secret

Anne travelled to the Pegasos clinic near Basel, Switzerland, to secretly end her life in January

A Swiss assisted dying clinic has allegedly helped a woman end her life without informing her family, despite promising to change its practices.

Anne, who was 51, travelled from Wales to the Pegasos clinic near Basel to end her life in secret in January, after telling her family she was going for a holiday.

Under similar circumstances, Alistair Hamilton, 47, died in 2023, and the Pegasos clinic reportedly promised last year that it would always contact a person's family before carrying out an assisted death.

However, Anne, whose death was first reported by ITV News, allegedly died without her family being informed.

Pegasos said it had attempted to phone and text her brother John, but he insisted he had received no communication from them.

Speaking to ITV, Anne's family said she had no terminal illnesses, but it is believed she chose to end her life after the death of her son, which led her to suffer with depression.

Dyfed-Powys Police said it is investigating her death, and have been in contact with the Swiss authorities, who confirmed she died on 6 January.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the force said it could "neither confirm nor deny whether a person is a suspect or person of interest" in the case.

Assisted dying is legal under Swiss law, and individuals can be assisted to end their lives for any reason as long as they are not being coerced.

Anne's family learned of her intention to die only after goodbye letters posted to them from Switzerland arrived.

In a letter to her sister, Delia, Anne wrote: "So if you're reading this, I am no longer here.

"I have thought about this long and hard and need to find (my son) and ask him some questions.

"There is nothing you could have done, because this was my decision to go to Switzerland and be in peace... I can't keep going and get older and older without my son."

Delia said she did not know whether she should start grieving or not, and began contacting Swiss clinics, but it took several days and multiple emails for Pegasos to respond.

They said: "Anne has chosen to die.

"She died gently and not alone. I hope her letters help you to accept this. All official papers and her urn will be sent to her brother John."

Speaking to ITV, Delia said: "Anyone who loses a child probably wants to die and be with them.

"But with the right help she could have got through it."

A spokesperson for Pegasos told ITV News: "According to our protocols we do the best of our abilities that persons we assist have informed their loved ones of their plans to die.

"Should we have reason to assume that no information has been provided to close family, we will refrain from proceeding without credible proof that they are aware. This hasn't been the case lately."

They added: "We understand that the assisted death of a loved person is a distressing time for the family.

"We are very sorry if Pegasos' actions or communications have caused further distress to any affected family member at any time and thoroughly consider all concerns.

"Finally, we'd like to emphasise that - since our foundation in 2019 - all our actions have been in accordance with Swiss law."