Jane Nicklinson: Lack of right to die is ‘uncivilised’

Paul Lamb, who was almost completely paralysed from the neck down since a car accident 23 years ago, and Jane Nicklinson, the widow of locked-in syndrome sufferer Tony Nicklinson, will appear before nine Supreme Court judges to campaign for the right to die.

Ms Nicklinson told the Today programme it was "uncivilised" that people such as her husband had to suffer instead of being allowed to die with the help of a doctor.

"I saw the way that Tony suffered and I don't want other people to suffer like him," she said, adding that she was "hopeful" of a positive outcome to the hearing.

Ms Nicklinson also clarified that a change in the law, if it happened, would only apply to the "severely disabled".

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday 16 December 2013.