Wendy Duffy, a 56-year-old former care worker from the West Midlands, has died at the Pegasos clinic in Basel, Switzerland, four years after the death of her only child, Marcus, aged 23. The physically healthy woman had struggled to cope with her son’s death and had previously attempted to take her own life.
Marcus Duffy died after choking on a sandwich that became lodged in his windpipe, starving his brain of oxygen. Wendy Duffy paid Pegasos £10,000 for the assisted dying procedure, which took place on 24 April. Her siblings were aware of her application.
Ruedi Habegger, founder of Pegasos, described her death as a “sane suicide”, confirming that the procedure was completed without incident and in full compliance with her wishes. He stated that professional staff assessing her mental capacity had no doubt as to her intention, understanding, and independence.
The case comes as assisted dying legislation in England and Wales, the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill, failed to pass after running out of time in parliament. The bill would have allowed adults with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and an expert panel. Duffy’s circumstances would not have met these conditions.
Duffy had expressed a wish for assisted dying to be available in the UK, saying: “My life, my choice. I wish this was available in the UK, then I wouldn’t have to go to Switzerland at all.” The bill had faced more than 1,200 amendments in the Lords, with over 800 tabled by seven peers.
