A teenager has joined her terminally ill mother outside the House of Lords to urge peers not to block the Assisted Dying Bill. Sophie Blake, 52, from Brighton, has stage four breast cancer and fears a painful death due to an allergy to opioids. Her daughter Maya Nicholls-Blake, 18, said: 'I don't want you to be scared. I know you would have peace of mind if this bill gets passed.'
Sophie, a former sports presenter, was diagnosed in May 2022 with secondary breast cancer that spread to her liver, lungs, lymph nodes, pelvic bone and skin. She said: 'I’m very aware I could face a horrific death because I am allergic to opioids. As soon as I was diagnosed my immediate fear was not dying but how I could die.' Currently her cancer is 'asleep' after targeted drug treatment, but she described it as 'a ticking time bomb'.
Maya said: 'I feel very strongly for the campaign. I’ve lost people before to similar illnesses and I don’t want to see my mum go through that.' Sophie added: 'I don’t want her to be traumatised by my death.'
The debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is taking place over two days in the Lords. Supporters outnumbered opponents outside Parliament. Louise Shackleton, 58, from North Yorkshire, who is under police investigation after accompanying her husband Antony to Dignitas last December, said: 'I am facing 14 years in jail for simply getting on a plane with my husband.'
