After a final glass of champagne and listening to her favorite music, a former children’s author died in a Swiss assisted death facility.
Dawn Voice-Cooper, 76, a mother of one, died after releasing a deadly quantity of barbiturates into her system at the Lifecircle clinic in Basel, surrounded by her friends.
Ms. Voice-Cooper has spent years lobbying for assisted dying to be legalized in the UK, while suffering from severe arthritis, recurring brain bleeds, and epilepsy.
Her life was an ‘endless, often unpleasant, and generally painful, daily care of many, incurable issues,’ she told the Mirror.
Ms. Voice-Cooper told sobbing friends and medical workers at her bedside ‘thank you’ before slipping into a deep slumber and dying.
Those who believed she ‘looked great’ didn’t comprehend the ‘difficulties’ of her everyday existence, according to the former mental health professional, who lived alone in Sevenoaks, Kent.
Ms. Voice-death Cooper’s occurred on World Right to Die Day, which was observed by activists.
In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, assisting suicide is currently punished by up to 14 years in jail.
Ms. Voice-Cooper stated that she had to die early since she was still fit to travel rather than live as long as her quality of life permitted.
Alex Pandolfo, who has early-onset Alzheimer’s and plans to die at Lifecircle before deteriorating, will now join her in calling for a “evidence-based parliamentary enquiry into humane voluntary assisted dying in the United Kingdom.”
Baroness Meacher’s proposed assisted dying law will only be available to those who have less than six months to live.
It cleared its second reading in the House of Lords last week, advancing it to the Committee stage for the first time in seven years.
Ms. Voice-Cooper, on the other hand, believes the ideas are too restricted. She wants a Parliamentary inquiry into assisted dying based on evidence, with the goal of eventually establishing a Canadian-style approach, in which persons suffering from a terminal illness might ask to die.
Assisted dying opponents to fear that legalization will encourage disabled and elderly individuals to terminate their lives rather than becoming a care burden.
Ms. Voice-Cooper sought to demonstrate the precautions in place to prevent any misuse of the system, such as submitting her medical information, explaining her reasons for wanting to die, and demonstrating her mental competency.
When she arrived in Switzerland, she was examined by two doctors before being sent to the Lifecircle facility, where two people die every week.
Ms. Voice-Cooper applied for assisted death two years ago, after contemplating her choices in 2017 as her health began to decline.
Patients at the more well-known Dignitas facility ingest a lethal cocktail of drugs, but at Lifecircle, staff put up an IV drip that recipients operate themselves.
Ms. Voice-Cooper spent her final moments with friends and fellow campaigners Mr. Pandolfo and Miranda Tuckett, in a room with a window looking out at the trees, where her bed was positioned.
Dr. Erika Preisig, the president of Lifecircle, then asked Ms Voice-Cooper four final questions on camera: What is your name, date of birth, can you explain to me why you came here, and do you know what will happen if you open this profusion?
Ms. Voice-Cooper listened to Nick Drake’s Day is Done as she permitted the IV medicines to enter her circulation.
Her body will be cremated and her ashes scattered following a police report, which is completed after every assisted death in the clinic.
Up to one British person, every week is said to go to Switzerland to die, with the trip costing over £10,000. Any family members who assist are thus at risk of being prosecuted in the United Kingdom.