MND sufferer's Dignitas death prompts call to pass assisted dying bill

Nicola Hawkins said her father John, who suffered from Motor Neurone Disease (MND) had "gone sooner than he wanted to" to die at Dignitas after fearing he would become too ill to travel. 

Miss Hawkins spoke out to call for change as MPs debate the assisted dying issue in Parliament for the first time in almost a decade. 

She said: “I could’ve still had months with him, but the fear of him being trapped in the UK after something like a nasty fall made him go sooner than he’d like to have gone.

“My dad could be sat here now with me, but he isn’t because the UK laws mean that I was robbed of the extra few months with him.”

Mr Hawkins travelled to the Swiss clinic and died, aged 66, on September, 27.

He was accompanied by Nicola and his wife, Lynn, and used his last words to tell them he loved them.

Now, Nicola says they fear police could prosecute them, as current UK law bans assisted suicide in England and carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

She said: “He tried to talk us out of coming with him multiple times due to the thought of us being arrested for going with him.”

“My heart goes out to all the families that haven’t or couldn’t go with a loved one.”

Mr Hawkins, who was originally from Cumbria, was diagnosed with MND 18 months before his death.

Miss Hawkins said: “My dad, having watched my grandad [die], had a crystal ball into his future.

“There is no cure [for MND]. He knew what awaited him.

“As a proud man, he did not want his dignity to be taken away.”John's last words to his wife and daughter were I love you (Image: Nicola Hawkins)

Miss Hawkins described the trauma of having to travel to and back from Dignitas.

She said: “Whilst dealing with the overwhelming feeling of grief and loss, I had to drag my mum, who had just lost her soulmate, from the building where my dad took his life, into a taxi and back to a hotel in a foreign country, 900 miles away from home and the support of family.

“He should have been able to say his final goodbyes at home with his dog and his family around him.”

They were a tight-knit family of three (Image: Nicola Hawkins) The assisted dying bill was formally brought before the House of Commons earlier this week on October 16.

If passed, the bill would change the law in the UK to allow some terminally ill adults to ask for medical help to end their life.

The issue has proven controversial, having been rejected the last time it was debated in 2015.

Fighting tears, Miss Hawkins said: “I don’t believe anyone truly understands assisted suicide unless they have a family member go through Dignitas or a loved one pleading for their suffering to end.

“If every family went through what we have, I do believe the law in the UK would have changed by now.

“We never wanted my dad to go to Zurich. We would have taken care of him at home until this disease took his life.

“The last selfless thing we could do was support his decision to die peacefully on his own terms.”

Miss Hawkins said her dad loved being a dad (Image: Nicola Hawkins) Miss Hawkins said doctors at Dignitas interviewed her dad and checked several times, including on the morning of his death, that he wanted to go ahead.

Mr and Mrs Hawkins moved to Kinver around two years before having Nicola, their only daughter.  

They relocated to Greater Manchester, where Miss Hawkins still lives, when she was 11.

She is still learning to navigate life without her dad but finds peace in knowing he is no longer in pain.

She said: “It’s not us that had to suffer. It was him.

“I am still coming to terms with the fact that my dad will never meet my kids. They will never know how good of a grandad he would have been.

“He will never walk me down the aisle and I will never be able to ask him for advice again.

“The gene my dad had is CHCH10, meaning I have a 50 per cent likelihood that I too will have this gene and may develop MND during my lifetime.

“I can only hope if I develop that disease that I will be able to choose to die in the UK with my loved ones around me.

“The thought of having to put my kids through travelling back from Dignitas, like I did, terrifies me.”

If you are dealing with issues raised in this article, are feeling distressed or suicidal, you can contact The Samaritans for help on 116 123or visit www.samaritans.org.