Assisted dying campaign backed by woman whose relatives took own lives

Zoe Hyatt-Marley supports the change in law over assisted dying following the death of her mother and husband

A woman whose mother and husband both took their own lives when terminally ill said allowing assisted dying would be "better than what is going on now".

A Parliamentary bill to enable adults to legally seek assistance to end their lives was debated in the House of Lords last month.

Zoe Hyatt-Marley, from Cromer, Norfolk, said it was "important for everybody" that the law was relaxed.

But opponents argue a change in the law would threaten vulnerable people.

Mrs Hyatt-Marley's mother Judith Marley was diagnosed with inoperable and terminal skin cancer and in 2018 took her own life.

Her daughter said: "From diagnosis to when she died... it was a very difficult eight months for her.

"She did suffer greatly."

Zoe Hyatt-Marley said her mother Judith's illness was "really unpleasant"

Before her mother took her own life, she had already made a previous attempt, which Mrs Hyatt-Marley said left her "in terrible pain".

She said her mother was "very distressed and the hope should could take things into her own hands had been destroyed".

"She wanted to be able to leave on her terms being who she was - the bubbly, warm, lovely person she was," she added.

'Relief when suffering comes to an end'

Less than a year later, Mrs Hyatt-Marley's husband Andrew was diagnosed with colon cancer, which spread to his liver.

She said: "It was an immensely difficult process. He had been such a vital, lively, interesting, intellectually alive person, and then [we watched] him be taken a bit at a time to the point where he couldn't stand or even hold a pen.

"Every part of who he was being stripped away; this has also happened with my mother and I was watching it all over again."

She said the couple talked about travelling to the Dignatas clinic in Switzerland, which legally provides an assisted dying service, but Mrs Hyatt-Marley said her husband told her "I'm British, I was born in England, I want to die in England, I want the laws to be right in this country".

Zoe Hyatt-Marley said her husband Andrew discussed ending his life when he discovered his cancer was inoperable

Her husband died in June this year after taking his own life.

"I was relived he was able to take control, he said he wanted to be him when he left," said his widow.

"I think it's always a relief when suffering comes to an end for everybody who had to watch a loved one suffer.

She said the Assisted Dying Bill was "so important, it's not just about my mother or my husband it's about everybody who has to do this thing called dying".

"Assisted dying is going to be much better option than what is going on now," she said.

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However, a group of 1,689 current and retired doctors, pharmacists and medical students has urged peers to reject the bill.

In an open letter to Health Secretary Sajid Javid, they said a change in the law would "threaten society's ability to safeguard vulnerable patients from abuse" and "undermine the trust the public places in physicians".

"It would send a clear message to our frail, elderly and disabled patients about the value that society places on them as people," they added.

The proposed law change has also attracted criticism from the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Roman Catholic Cardinal Vincent Nichols, and Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.

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