Lucy Davenport, 43, from Scarborough, has urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham not to delay the assisted dying bill after her husband Tom died in agony despite receiving "gold standard" palliative care. She told the Mirror: "My husband had all of the medications that they could give him under guidance and it wasn't enough. His death was like a horror film, it was horrific."
Tom Davenport, a 48-year-old musician, was diagnosed with terminal bile duct cancer in 2022 and died in a hospice in 2023. Lucy said he maxed out on three syringe drivers and died from faecal vomiting. She now suffers from PTSD from watching his death.
PM's Stance on Assisted Dying
The Prime Minister has suggested the assisted dying bill should wait until palliative care improvements are made. Burnham previously changed his mind in 2024 after his father Roy's dementia, saying then that people suffer too much. But Lucy said she was "gutted" because her husband's experience shows palliative care alone is insufficient. "My husband had no other option other than to die in horrific circumstances, and he would be horrified that I'm living in this trauma now," she said. She called for "real choice" alongside palliative care, saying "the two things go hand in hand."
Other Campaigners Speak Out
Louise Shackleton, 59, travelled to Dignitas with her husband Antony, who had Motor Neurone Disease. She handed herself in to police on return and waited a year to learn she would not be prosecuted. She criticised Burnham, saying: "Mr Burnham seems to have left the dying out of his plans yet again." She added that no palliative care could help her husband, who faced a death "left in a body like a living corpse, rotting".
Josh Cook, 35, from Huddersfield, has Huntington's disease and plans to take his own life regardless of legislation. His mother and other relatives died from the disease. He questioned why the debate is "hiding behind palliative care" when choices are needed. "We are yet again forgetting that quality of life is worth more than quantity," he said.
Anil Douglas, 37, from London, said his father Ian took his own life days before his 60th birthday in February 2019 after suffering from multiple sclerosis. Ian's suicide note stated that if assisted dying laws existed, he would probably still be alive. Anil said he was "disappointed" with Burnham and noted that palliative care could not control the neurological pain. "The bad death of a loved one scars you for the rest of your life," he said.
