Emma Bray, a 42-year-old mother with motor neurone disease (MND), has died after deciding to voluntarily stop eating and drinking to spare her children the trauma of witnessing her death. She had shared her plans with the Mirror earlier this year.
On Monday, Bray posted a final message on her Instagram account, 'Stupid_mnd', from a hospice in Devon. She wrote: 'If you are reading this then I've finished my final spin round the sun. I've lived a very good life, surrounded by love, music and laughter.' She urged others to plant a tree, call a friend, or perform a random act of kindness in her memory.
Bray, from Barnstaple, North Devon, had been a campaigner for assisted dying legislation. She described the disease as 'the worst disease possible' and said she wanted to shield her children, aged 15 and 14, from seeing her choke to death. Instead, she chose a 'calm and peaceful death' through voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED), a practice that typically takes 10 to 14 days.
Earlier this year, she told the Mirror: 'My last bit of parenting I can do is to limit the suffering and trauma they have to witness.' She had waited for her daughter's exams to finish before entering the hospice. Bray had also attended concerts, including Alanis Morissette, as part of her bucket list.
Her death comes as she had urged MPs to support the Assisted Dying Bill, stating: 'This bill will not end my life, motor neurone disease is doing that, but they can help me and others with less than six months to live to die with peace.'
