Dame Esther Rantzen has revealed that she believes this spring could be her last as she continues to battle stage four lung cancer. The 83-year-old broadcaster and journalist said watching the seasons change and spending time with her grandchildren has become “precious” to her.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Dame Esther said: “I’m watching the spring flowers come out, thinking: ‘This is probably my last spring.’ When I talk to my grandchildren when they come and visit me, I’m very aware these moments are precious. They may be the last memories they have of me.”
The former That’s Life! presenter has renewed her calls for a debate and vote on legalising assisted dying. She said she would feel “confidence” knowing her own death could be “dignified”. “It would give me so much confidence if I could also know that however the illness progresses, whatever pain it causes, wherever it strikes me next, I will still have the choices of a pain free, dignified private death surrounded by the people I love,” she added.
Dame Esther has joined the Dignitas assisted dying clinic in Switzerland, but noted that her family could face criminal charges if they were to accompany her. In England and Wales, the 1961 Suicide Act makes it an offence to encourage or assist someone to take their own life.
The Health and Social Care Committee recently reported evidence that some countries which allowed assisted dying could have better end-of-life care. However, the report did not call for a vote on the issue, which Dame Esther said she was “disappointed” about, noting that a delay “doesn’t fit into her timescale”.
