Jenny Carruthers, who is terminally ill and a supporter of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill, waits in Parliament Square while British lawmakers debate whether to allow assisted dying for terminally ill adults, in London, Britain, November 29, 2024. REUTERS/Mina Kim
LONDON (Reuters) - Jenny Carruthers watched her partner die in agony from cancer that had spread to his bones. Now diagnosed with the same condition, she is desperate for Britain to change the law to permit assisted dying and give her a more peaceful death.
"I watched my partner die in uncontrollable agony and it looks like I'm going to be facing the same future. We need this," Carruthers, 56, said, as she recalled her partner "screaming in bed" in his final days.
"I'm now terminally ill. I've got a spread to my bones and I've got a fairly good idea of what could happen. It's very frightening," said Carruthers, from Bath in southwest England.
British lawmakers were to vote later on Friday on whether to allow assisted dying for terminally ill adults, in what could launch a process to change the law and bring in one of the biggest social reforms in a generation.
Carruthers, a former healthcare assistant, was one of hundreds who gathered outside Parliament on Friday hoping to convince politicians that those suffering should be given the right to choose to die.
Scarred by her partner's ordeal and fearful of the impact that a repeat would have on her children, Carruthers said the legalisation of assisted dying would enable her to live her last days without fear, and should be one offering to those who are terminally ill.
She said her children were fully supportive of her wishes, and believed that safeguards in the bill, requiring the approval of two doctors and a judge, would prevent anyone being pressured into ending their lives early - as the bill's critics fear.
As she waited nervously in Parliament Square while lawmakers debated an issue which could affect how much pain she could suffer in future, Carruthers issued a final plea for compassion.
"I beg them to really consider giving us some dignity," she said.
(Reporting by Sarah Young and Marissa Davison; Editing by Kate Holton and Mark Heinrich)
